Bill Resler was a professor at the University of Washington who had
possessed a passionate interest in basketball. Resler decided to put his love of
the game to work when he heard that Seattle's Roosevelt High School needed a
coach for their women's basketball team. Despite having almost no experience as
a coach, Resler landed the job, and soon began making a difference with the
team, firing his players up with enthusiasm and encouraging them to think of
themselves not as girl basketball players, but as athletes. Resler's coaching
helped to turn a team that usually sat near the bottom of the rankings into
serious contenders for a district championship, and produced at least one star
player, point guard Darnellia Russell. Russell is a gifted player who hopes she
can turn her talent on the court into a college scholarship, since her family
can't afford to send her on their own dime, but Russell also has a sharp tongue
and a short temper that has earned her a reputation as a disciplinary problem.
When Russell becomes pregnant, she finds herself fighting to remain in school,
and to hold on to her eligibility to play on the team in the future. The Heart
of the Game is a documentary which examines Bill Resler's fight to rebuild the
women's basketball program at Roosevelt and Russell's battle to stay in the
game. The Heart of the Game earned an enthusiastic reception following its
screenings at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie
Guide
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