A soccer film triple-header and continuing the fight for social and racial justice
It's a good week to be a soccer fan. The game continues to return, with MLS announcing its return, La Liga kicking off again, and the Premier League and Serie A coming back over the next few weeks.
It's also a good week for soccer films. First up, our featured film for #SoccerFilmFriday is Coach, the inspiring story of a woman's quest to overcome illogical roadblocks and sexism in the coaching ranks. Next is Foosballers, the greatest movie ever made about the table soccer, which is airing on ESPN tonight! And last is The Rhino Cup, which documents efforts to stop rhino poaching through the beautiful game.
And a reminder about K+S's ongoing efforts to support the fight against racism: Proceeds from all films streamed on the K+S film portal through the end of June will be donated to Campaign Zero, a non-profit dedicated to ending police violence. In addition, following up on last week's pledge to continue to fight against racism and for social justice, we are donating an additional $500 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. It's not much, but we hope it helps.
Coach: A woman’s quest for more
The short documentary Coach, which screened at K+S New York 2019, is the story of Tracy Hamm and her quest to earn the internationally renowned UEFA "A" coaching license.
Tracy, who currently coaches at UC Davis, first tried to pursue a top license from the U.S. Soccer federation but was obstructed by requirements that candidates seeking waivers to bypass lower certification levels must have played three years of professional soccer. Problem was, when she graduated from college in 2006, no professional women’s league existed in the United States.
Undeterred, she went to Europe and, despite the ingrained sexism in the game over there, she persisted. Her success is as inspiring as it is overdue.
Coach is available to watch for free throughout the month of June.
Foosballers: Now on ESPN
Big news for some good friends of K+S. Foosballers, Joe Heslinga's brilliant doc that won the Golden Whistle Award at K+S New York 2019, will air on ESPN tonight at 7PM ET.
Foosballers is a rollicking ride through the past, the present, and the future of everyone's favorite bar game. This is a can't miss film. More info...
The Rhino Cup: Can soccer save an endangered species?
"Why can't the greatest game save the greatest animal?"
We all know that soccer's impact goes well beyond the four lines and the stadiums and the TV. It goes into our hearts and into our communities.
The Rhino Cup is the story of a football league near Kruger National Park created with the sole purpose of reducing poaching of rhinos.
The Rhino Cup is available to stream for free right now.
Last week, we encouraged you all to check out and support several organizations focused on Black soccer culture or serving the Black community through the game we all love. This week, we're highlighting a selection of Black voices in the North American soccer scene to follow to keep listening and learning: