Norway, Iowa. Sounds incongruous. I had never heard of "that" Norway. But apparently over the years this small farming town of 500 or so and their small school had won more than its fair share of state baseball championships, under the leadership and motivation of a few different coaches.
But now, 1990, the regional school board planned to shut down that small school and consolidate it with a nearby larger school for the economies of scale. Naturally the students and townsfolk alike were dead set against the plan.
Powers Boothe is excellent as coach Jim Van Scoyoc, and so that the school "would fall flat on it face" for its final season, his job was eliminated early. In his place Sean Astin as Kent Stock, who was a teacher and girls volleyball coach, was made the Norway baseball coach for its last season.
That part of the school board plan did not work because Stock had been an excellent baseball player in his younger days, and now seemed to have the knack for organizing and motivation these boys of Norway.
Rachael Leigh Cook is one of my favorite young actresses and she is good as part of the antagonist school board group but she eventually comes over to the Norway side, and befriends Stock.
This is a good family movie without cursing and sex, and only passing references to beer and cigarettes. It is also based on real people and real events, although certainly some of it must be fictionalized for the movie-making process.
SPOILERS: Norway had an up and down final season, but managed to work their way into the championship game. The other team's pitcher was a major league talent, with a 90+ mph fastball, and the team was a virtual one-man show. But Norway managed to tie the game in the 7th, sending it to extra innings, which they won with a suicide squeeze with a man on third. This was their 20th championship, in 1991, and the school closed as planned. The new, consolidated school has never won a championship.
But now, 1990, the regional school board planned to shut down that small school and consolidate it with a nearby larger school for the economies of scale. Naturally the students and townsfolk alike were dead set against the plan.
Powers Boothe is excellent as coach Jim Van Scoyoc, and so that the school "would fall flat on it face" for its final season, his job was eliminated early. In his place Sean Astin as Kent Stock, who was a teacher and girls volleyball coach, was made the Norway baseball coach for its last season.
That part of the school board plan did not work because Stock had been an excellent baseball player in his younger days, and now seemed to have the knack for organizing and motivation these boys of Norway.
Rachael Leigh Cook is one of my favorite young actresses and she is good as part of the antagonist school board group but she eventually comes over to the Norway side, and befriends Stock.
This is a good family movie without cursing and sex, and only passing references to beer and cigarettes. It is also based on real people and real events, although certainly some of it must be fictionalized for the movie-making process.
SPOILERS: Norway had an up and down final season, but managed to work their way into the championship game. The other team's pitcher was a major league talent, with a 90+ mph fastball, and the team was a virtual one-man show. But Norway managed to tie the game in the 7th, sending it to extra innings, which they won with a suicide squeeze with a man on third. This was their 20th championship, in 1991, and the school closed as planned. The new, consolidated school has never won a championship.