Hoop Dream

         The movie Hoop Dream is an inspiring documentary that shows how even in hard times and after a number of failures, through sports one can learn to succeed. The movie follows two boys, Arthur Agee and William Gates who come from very similar situations. Both have grown up in the rough part of their city, Chicago, Illinois and were recognized because of their outstanding abilities to play basketball. Each are scouted out by the primarily white St. Joseph High school in Westchester, Illinois. It does an amazing job showing difficult it can be for someone in their situation to ignore all the pressure there is to do drugs and drop out of school. Throughout the film, the viewer is shown that it isn't always an uphill climb to following your dreams. Constant barriers come up throughout the boy's lives that make it harder and harder for them to stay in basketball and continue to be the athlete they can be.
         In the beginning of the documentary both Arthur and William and accepted to St. Josephs with partial scholarships to play on the basketball team. William makes the varsity team and Arthur makes the freshman team. As the season goes begins the coaches push both boys to live up to their potential ability. Because of the Arthur's difficult financial situation at home, it is hard for him to stay focused and keep up with his classes to make good grades. Also, the coach doesn't feel that he is giving his all on the court. William also struggles to keep his grades up but as opposed to Arthur, starts off the basketball season with confidence. Many other trials arise that cause it to be hard for the boys to stay in school. As the season goes on Arthur is forced to leave the school because his parents can't afford to pay for it. Because of this he loses a lot of time in school and has to go to Marshall High School his sophomore year. He continues to show a lack of motivation but still has the will to do what he loves, playing basketball. As his high school carrier continues, William and his girlfriend have a you can see that is causes him more stress because his performance on the court suffers. He isn't as consistent and the coach gets frustrated with him. Mr. Agee leaves the family as a result of drug abuse and life at home becomes more unpleasant for Arthur. Although his mom, coaches, and teachers and constantly trying to get him to do better, `the documentary captures how Arthur uses basketball as a way to let out is aggression and become a better athlete. William suffers a knee injury and it causes him to miss part of his junior year basketball season. He comes back his senior year trying to fight the injury but it continues to hold him back. Unfortunately his efforts to to remain a star basketball player are not enough to bring his team to the Championship. On the other hand Arthur takes him team to the city championship and wins because of his star performance.