Brief Garland: Ponytails. Basketball, and Nothing But Net

I'm sorry I haven't read the book yet, so I gave it a neutral 3. Nah, I'll give it a five, because it's about girls' basketball in the sixtie's. See below. I just saw a screening of the independent film, Believe in Me, at the Santa Barbara film festival. I'm writing about it here, so that when it is finally distributed, maybe this will help boost the audience. The screenplay is an adaptation of a novel written for juveniles, Brief Garland, by Harold Keith, which was first published in 1974. The film focuses on the character of the coach of a girls' basketball team in a small town in western Oklahoma during his first years at the school in 1964-66. He arrives to coach the boys team, but is maneuvered into the coaching job for the girls. Over the course of the film, he learns how to coach the girls, and helps develop a competitive team at a school where girls' basketball had never been supported before. I watched the film with particular interest because I played high school basketball in 1964-68 in Tennessee, where, as in Oklahoma, we played the six-on-six half-court game that most girls played until after Title IX was passed in 1972. I was disappointed to see that the girls in the film played the full-court five-on-five game, which is slower, messier, and lower-scoring than the half-court game we played. By playing with fewer players, the court was less crowded, and girls had more freedom to drive to the basket. Since defenders made long passes to move the ball upcourt to the offensive team, the speed from end to end was actually faster than the boys' game!! Had the film's auteur truly appreciated the game that the heroines of the film actually played in the sixties, he may have created an even more exciting film, with less forced editing to simulate speed and grace. I know, I know, you don't believe me. Oh well . . . . That said, the movie was great fun, and easy to recommend for the whole family.

I read this book in 1974, while I was playing girls' basketball in Oklahoma. Not only is it based on real people, but it could be any of a number of girl's basketball teams in the state. (Oklahoma had high school girls basketball long before Title 9.) As a girls' basketball coach myself over the past 20 years I have remembered this book often and experienced all of the things that are a part of coaching girls, both the triumphs and the heartbreaks. Harold Keith touched on them all with first-hand knowledge. I tried for years to get my own copy, so I'm thrilled it has been reprinted. It would make an excellent read for anyone who plays, coaches, or even knows about the sport of women's basketball. I am certain you will enjoy it.

I first read Breif Garland when I was 14 at the request of my coach. I was amazed to find that 25 years later I still enjoyed it. This book is a must read for girls involved in athletics as well as their parents. Without coaches like Lee and players like Pat, Candy and Frances (which are based on real live people) we would not have women's sports today. If you love girls basketball you'll love this book!