Reaction Paper : Coach Carter

Everything in life is somehow connected. It is a matter of taking right decisions before knowing what
that everything in life is. Being successful is completing something that you think you can’t do. Yet you
can do anything that you set your mind to. This movie: “Coach Carter” speaks out the idea of life, taking
chances and choosing what’s important in life. And somehow to learn respect, teamwork, humility,
responsibility and change. Life is not indeed unfair; it is just full of circumstances and challenges that we
as humans need to face. But with all those obstacles in life, which one is the most important thing that
we need to look forward to?

Leaders are those who inspire others to do better. And by taking actions, these leaders are making
difference to their people. And one of them is Coach Ken Carter. Carter was a basketball coach of a
hopeless team that no one can tame or teach. Yet Carter still gives it a shot and eventually changes and
teaches them to learn the value of discipline, and finds faith to succeed.

Respect is something that is easy to lose but hard to gain. Coach Carter teaches his players that
discipline starts with self-respect. If you know how to respect yourself, you can respect others too.
Responsibility is another thing that a team needs to take. The responsibility of being good in sports
without failing in Academics is a hard task that Carter wants them to succeed. Another is that, Carter
wants them to realize that basketball is not their life; it is just a part of their life. Playing basketball can’t
get them through life, but having a good education would.

The key of change is to let go of fears. Timo Cruz says: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most
frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not
just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other
people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically
liberates others. It is a matter of facing the fear that we feel inside.” Our deepest fear is being unable to
fulfill our potential. The potential that we have inside that God has given us to explore, and to share.
Cause as we express it with ourselves we also share the same feeling of being able to express to others.

As the Richmond Oilers continues their road to success, they eventually take a wrong path leading to
their destination. Carter implemented his players that in order for them to be real champions, they need
to act as champions. Champions are those who are made from deep inside and not from gyms. And as a
team, they achieve more than what they expected. A team is not by many but as one. It is not just for
the sake of one but for the sake of everybody. They fight for their one goal and desire.

Growing up in the world, you learn many things about people. You have to learn from decision
makings. Yes, living might mean taking chances. Chances that are worth taking. This movie is not just a
movie of success but also a movie of knowing what really a team is. A movie that reminds us that we still
have goals in life that we need to reach and take full responsibility.

Everything is not about winning. We achieve what everything in life is. It is just a matter of having our
up’s and down’s. We are always going to be facing challenges that in time will become more difficult. If
we choose to just give up we will never solve anything. We must evaluate the actions that need to take
place and solve it step by step. Cause as what Confucius says: “A journey to a thousand miles begins
with one step.”

he movie Coach Carter had presented different lessons that can be applied in our lives. These lessons,
when taken seriously will surely lead us to the fulfillment of our dreams.

“Average is just not good enough”, this statement from Coach Carter point out that everyone should
strive for the best. Everyone must not remain in level of mediocrity. The thought is the same with what
St. Ignatius advocates. All of us should strive for “magis” or excellence in the field that we wanted to
pursue.

“Young men, the journey of a thousand miles begin with the first step”, by saying this, he wants to
explain that our goals in life undergo a series of steps and process. What we do now will definitely affect
our future. We are the architect of our own future. All the decisions lie in our hands. It is up to us to
make the move. It will lead us to success or destruction.

Coach carter teaches us the value of respect. In these days of immorality, respect is degrading in the
society. Today’s teen and young adults embrace this status quo. Teens treat their elders as if they were
teens. Son’s and daughter’s communicate with their parents as if they are their classmates. This
deformity occasionally triggers miscommunication that leads to quarrel and even killings.

Coach Carter said that “They are student athletes, student comes first.”, he emphasizes that education
must be the priority of every teenager. If he or she fails in academics, he or she is not worthy in
participating different extra-curricular activities. The balance between the two is necessary for their
success. Coach Carter knows that basketball fame is not permanent. It can be faded by time, leaving its
players nothing.

Lastly, Coach Carter showed how important discipline is. Without this, one cannot improve his or her
skills. Discipline can transform any individual into a better person.

All of these lessons must be kept in our thoughts and deeds. These would surely aid us as we take our
steps in this journey.
The film, “Coach Carter” is inspired by the true story of a high school basketball coach, Ken Carter with a
mission to restructure an unaccomplished team into one of achievers. Though the team had been
undefeated at the local level, it was still struggling at higher level and the players had some conflicts
they had to deal with such as indiscipline, poor academic grades, physical aggression, laziness, and lack
of teamwork and cohesion. Coach Carter receives criticism for putting the first team on the bench and
closing the training ground/gym because the players failed to attain good grades. In the end, everyone is
happy with what the team becomes and achieves under Coach Carter.

Coach Carter identified that to make a team successful, he had to instill the attitude of champions in the
players at a personal level. He chose academics as an area he would target and he fairly gave them
attainable grade pass mark. He did not push them to achieve straight As but set different standards for
the players depending on ability. He made the players believe they could succeed in academics if they
worked hard, and this worked positively as it made the players carry the same winners’ attitude to the
pitch.

The other aspects of team dynamics Coach Carter taught the team was inspiration and discipline. He
inspired a team of players from broken families, drug peddlers, and undisciplined underachievers to one
of disciplined, hardworking, and confident players who have respect for each other and take
responsibility for the whole team. He demonstrated through practice that getting to the pitch together
was meaningless if they do not work as one team on and off the pitch with a common goal of success.
Griffin DavisCoach Carter Movie ReflectionWhen Coach Carter was a kid and at school, he saw that kids
he went to school with on thebasketball team were ending up in jail, or even dead. When he come to
Richmond he wanted to makesure that the boys had good lives outside of the high school scene, a

nd that they wouldn’t get caught up

in the violence of their city. Because of this, I agree with his expectations for the student athletes. I think

that while basketball may be important to them, you still won’t be able to have much of a future unless

you perform well in high school and go to a good college. Little things such as sitting in the front row
ofthe class do matter because it forces you to sit close to where the lecture is taking place, so
naturallyyou should feel inclined to take in more of the information. The teacher also has a better eye
on you to

make sure you’re paying attention. Coach Carter has these expectations so he can force the mindsetinto
the boys “school is more important than basketball.”

In the movie, the parents oppose Coac

h Carter’s rules and tell him that basketball is the mostimportant thing in their lives and that a bad GPA
shouldn’t keep them from that. If that happened here, Iwould take the coach’s side because in my
opinion, under any circumstance, education is more

important than sports.

Parents might think that they know best, but that isn’t always true. Even the boyson the team decided
to abide by the coach’s rules even though they could have just gone ahead and

played basketball anyway without needing to worry about grades.Out of all of the characters in the
movie I think I can relate to Coach Carter the most. I think I canrelate to him the most because I like to
take situations and look at the bigger picture effects of it rather

than the “here and now” effects. If something is more important than what I’m doing right this instant,

then I drop it and get done what needs to be done. Sometimes I may need a push in the right
direction,but the end result is the most important part of any action regardless of what steps you took
to getthere. I can also understand that not everyone thinks the same way, and I can respect that. But
just

because I respect your opinion, doesn’t mean I have to be tolerant of your actions.

I really like the transformation of kids from the beginning to the end of the movie. Theirattitudes went
from being sour toward their new coach and his methods to loving their coach as if he

were family. A lot of them didn’t like the fact that they had to work hard to achieve their goal, and

Coach Car

ter jammed that into their brains that that’s what they need to do. They were rewarded for
their hard work. It might not have been an instant reward, but in the long term they ended up
gettingscholarships and going to college all because of what this man brought into their lives.As for my
current situation, I am satisfied with myself. I have a pretty good idea of what my plan

is and what I want to do after school. I didn’t really start getting my priorities together until this past

year. If I were a pare

nt, I’m not too sure how I would feel if my child had my current living situation.

Neither of my parents went to college or really got any high-

paying jobs so they’ve always had a bit of amoney struggle. I don’t want to live that way, so I would like
to s

urpass their expectations and do thethings that they never got the chance to.