Integration of black and white students at same school

Map Branches

• What was the movie about?
  • Set in the early 1970s
  • Town of Alexandria
    • Racially divided
      • Black School
      • White School
        • Coach Yoast been there for years
        • Yoach demoted to Assistant Coach
  • Based on a true story
  • New school year
    • Integration of black and white students at same school
    • New black football coach
    • New mixed team
  • Plot
    • The team members learn to overcome their differences
    • The school students learn to overcome their differences
• What were the challenges the team faced?
  • Everybody loved the old Coach Yoast and nobody asked or wanted the new coach there
  • The new Coach Boone was black
  • Pressure from discriminatory parents not to mix
  • New coach -v- old coach
  • Discrimination from other all-white teams
  • The new coach was not going to be given a fair opportunity to prove his worth, the school board were going to sack him if he lost his first game
  • Acceptance by other school students of the new friendships and mixed team
• What tactics did coach Boone use to unite the players?
  • Getting players to focus on more important issues
  • Making players learn about each other
  • Recruiting only the best players regardless of color
  • Treating all players equally
• What else helped unite the players?
  • They won as a united team
  • The players and coaches learnt to respect each other
  • The coaches incorporated the best of each other's ideas and worked together
  • Common interests & emerging friendships
    • Football
    • School studies
    • Music
    • Humor
  • Working together (to achieve the goal)
  • Learning about each other
  • A common goal (to win)
• What did you like?
  • How the team had to spend time with a different colored player each day to learn about that person (family, hobbies, dreams etc). None of the players were keen on the idea but from it they discovered similar interests, intelligence and humor.
• What didn't you like?
  • Yoast's obnoxious daughter, I don't understand why her character had to be that way.
  • How unaccepting the town was without a valid reason. Smaller communities can be discriminatory e.g. locals -v- new people to the area.
• What did you learn?
  • Unwanted changes can bring good
  • Insight into how blacks must have felt
• How can you apply what you have learnt in your own school?
  • No matter what you have been told, give someone/something a chance and form your own opinion
  • Don't be quick to judge

Comments