HOOSIERS (1986)

This is a fictionalized story of the 1954 Milan High School team that won the Indiana boys’ basketball state championship despite the small size of the school. I watched it with my older son 20 years ago and stopped the video a dozen times, asking him, “OK, now why does the coach toss those players out of their first practice, what point is he trying to make?” My favourite scene is at the end, when they are in the final huddle of the championship game, with seconds to go and only one shot to win. The coach, played by Gene Hackman, orders a certain play just as he has throughout the entire movie. But this time his players disagree and recommend something different. He accedes to their request, which to me is the essence of good parenting — the ability to know when to hold firm on a decision versus when to trust your child’s judgment.