The Motion Picture
“The Beautiful Game, A Beautiful Season”
Inspired by Gil Sperry's True Story
Gil Sperry, a retired business man and former coach, now teaches physical education at two small San Diego-area elementary schools. He enjoys the relationship he has with the kids; it adds meaning to his life while enabling him to teach his students the value of an active life-style.
When the soccer coach at one of the schools has to leave due to a difficult pregnancy, Gil offers to take over the volunteer position if no one else will. He soon finds that he is “the last coach standing” and begins to put a team together. Since the best players from the prior year’s losing squad have moved on to middle school, tryouts and player selection are only the beginning.
The magical season plays out across an incredible odyssey to the league playoffs. It includes a horrendous beginning, administration involvement, parental disaffection, racial tensions, teammates fighting, humor, and courage. It follows the transformation of a rag-tag bunch of mostly mexicanos and their muy anciano gringo coach as they bridge their cultural divide to play for an impossible championship. The stirring finale will have everyone guessing until the last, redemptive, scene.
The anticipated rating for the MPAA of this film is PG13.
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Revised Ending For Screenplay
“The Beautiful Game, A Beautiful Season”
written by: Steven R. Gehrke and Bob Conder
based on “Soccer’s Story & A Futbol Fable”
by Gil Sperry
It didn't end the way we hoped it would, but that's only if you measure success strictly by the numbers on the scoreboard. This season...and this team...were both memorable, in the purest sense of the word. They both started with low expectations and ended near the top.
I've been coaching this beautiful game for over forty years and never had a team come so far in so short a time. Their spirit might have been bent today, but it was never broken. The heart they showed... especially today...will never be forgotten by anyone who was part of this beautiful season.
This might have been my last run but it definitely won't be for these kids. Something tells me that they'll be back for another crack at the championship. I know they'll never forget this year's experience and they'll certainly learn from it. They should be proud that they left it all on the field.
For me, I know where I'm going. I have a beautiful life with my beautiful wife. It doesn't get much better than sunsets in paradise with the one you love.
But you know, I can't help wondering if the outcome would have been different if I had just ...
( Voice-over fades as the screen fades to black)
