Linda Thomas: at the movies

The small town of Norway, Iowa has one claim to fame. The high school baseball team has won the state title for the last 19 years. The entire town is disappointed when the school district decides to incorporate their school with a larger school. They have one season left to play and leave everyone with the memory of 20 consecutive wins. The old coach (Powers Booth) has been made to retire and his young assistant (Sean Astin) is left on his own. The movie shows how a young coach can learn how to coach and motivate a team. Many movies like this have been made before and some of them were made better. This small town team has all the cliché characters: a powerful, evil man, a boy that doesn’t believe in himself or his team, a city boy that needs to learn how to be part of a team and a father that won the championship years ago. I enjoy inspirational sports movies and I enjoyed this movie. Sometimes, watching young men play a sport and learn how to be teammates is enough. This is a good family movie for parents and children ten or older. There is some smoking by a teen-ager but it is frowned upon. Some of the themes are more mature and there is some language. Parents might discuss the importance of any sports in a family and a community.