This documentary follows four Polynesian Utah high school boys and their families over four years, and their quest to make it to college and then professional football. KBYU or PBS aired it and by accident, and fortuitously, I tuned in.
In this documentary we watch four young men fight through the struggles of high school, of friends and influencers and gangs, of family strife and needs and pressure. It broke my heart to watch this film. Playing on a college football team, making it to the pros, and providing for the family is their main goal, and if it's not theirs, it is certainly the parents'.
I watched this before we had our Polynesian guest speakers, and I am still torn about my feelings thinking back to it! The pressure that is put on this culture to excel in football is enormous. The chances of them making it to the pros is small, but if it happens, the payoff is huge, which makes it all the more enticing. But what happens if they don't? What happens when that dream falls through because of academics, problems with the law, injuries? What's the backup plan?
Because of the newness of this documentary, we don't get to see what happens over the course of the next 4-5 years. But the questions I have are many: Did they make it? And more importantly to me, if they didn't, where are they now? How do their families view them? Was there ever a Plan B?
This film just gave me a broader understanding the need of these people to provide for their families, to place family first, to give them respect, HOW they give them respect. Two thumbs up, worth watching!
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