01x01 - Welcome to the Saints Young Man

[bunniefuu]

[father] Let's try to get that in there.

You gonna catch the ball?

-Yeah.
-All right.

No, Aiden, I'm not a rookie.
I've played football since I was four.

I've played football
since I was two or three.

[boy] Say it! One, two, three… easies!

[gentle music playing]

[coach 1] Welcome to football, fellas!

[coach 2] Get over there, man.

[player] Team, down!

[coach 2] You two, come on.
Point the other way.

One!

Go!

[coach 3] You know, the Saints…

Let's go, 9U! Let's show how we work!

[coach 3] …it means, "God's people."

Suck it up. This is football.
This is what makes you tough.

All right? Come on.

[coach 3] It's all of us.

[man] You run an angle.
Angle hook. Go right.

[player] Ready… Go!

[coach 4] A successful program
isn't determined

by how many national championships
you have. Yes, that's a good thing,

but our goal is to make sure
that every season, we save a life.

[mother] The Saints have saved my kid.

Because my son did have
a lot of self-esteem issues.

And he didn't know what he wanted to do

until he met the Saints.

[coach 3] I'm not even talking
about the NFL.

As long as you can get to college and get
a free education, I've done my job.

[player] Go.

[whistle blows]

[coach 1] People hear about Brooklyn,
you know, and East New York.

They think, "Negativity,"

just 'cause the simple fact
of the way the news portrays…

You know, 'cause everybody thinks
Brooklyn is about the gangs,

and sh**ting and k*lling, the ghetto.

And it's really not like that.

-[boys laughing]
-Yo!

I'm the king of this ship.

[coach 1] If you really look into Brooklyn
and into the souls of the people…

-[boy] What's up, Mr. Jimmy?
-Hey, boy. What up?

Nothing.

…you'll see another side of Brooklyn.

[man] That's a flower. See?
That's the tree.

[coach 1] You'll never hear that
across the news.

'Cause that's not the things
they look for.

All right.

[coach 1] We teach the kids
fundamentals of football.

We teach them how to be young men.

Easy. Easy.

[coach 1] We teach the kids
to be proud of who you are

and be proud of where you come from.

[boy] Easy.

[coach 1] We're not perfect.

It's not easy.

They say it takes a village
to raise a child.

[man] Faster, faster!

[coach 1] But the Brooklyn Saints
is that village.

This is the Brooklyn people rarely see.

[cheering]

[coach 1] That's the truth.

It's the Brooklyn Saints.

Easy! Let's win this! Good job, Saints!

[coach 1] We are the show.

-Who the show?
-[players] We the show!

-Am I my brother's keeper?
-[players] You already know!

-Saints on the field!
-[players] You know!

-Where we from?
-[players] Brooklyn!

-Where we from?
-[players] Brooklyn!

Brooklyn!

[all] We are the Saints!
We are the Saints!

[clippers buzzing]

What grade you in now?

-Huh?
-I said, "What grade you in now?"

-Oh, fifth.
-[barber] All right.

-So you graduate this year?
-Yeah.

Going back to Florida?

-Yeah.
-Uh-huh.

[man] Y'all won
the championship last year?

Uh, no, we lost.

[man] What was the score?

Thirty-two-zip.

[man] Zero?

Yeah.

[barber] With you on the team
and y'all had zero?

-Yeah.
-[barber exclaims]

[barber mumbles]

[D-Lo] I have been playing
with the Saints for three years so far.

I'm a quarterback.

I love football because
since I was young, that was…

That was the only thing I wanted to do
when I was young.

I used to come to the football field
when I was two or three, with my dad.

Try to help out, try to play.

Try to practice with him.

[clippers buzzing]

[clippers stop]

[barber] You know what's-his-name
grew up around the corner.

You know who Curtis Samuel is?

He's on the Carolina Panthers now.

[D-Lo] Mm-hmm.

Yeah, he grew up around the corner.

I used to cut his hair.

[clippers buzzing]

You got to make it to that status.

[D-Lo] I want to play football
for the rest of my life

because that's the only thing
I want to do.

[woman cheering] Go, D-Lo!

-That's right! Let's go!
-[coach 1] Yeah, D-Lo!

-[D-Lo] I'm running it left.
-[player] This side? Why?

T and down!

[father] On his right.

Ready?

Go!

[coach 2] That's it!

[coach 3] There it is.
That's what I'm talking about.

[coach 1] That's the throw I wanted.
All-day D-Lo.

-[coach 2] All-day D-Lo?
-[coach 1] One of those rare players.

[coach 2] Right? For real. D-Lo all day.

Huddle. Huddle…

[D-Lo] When people tell me
I have the team on my shoulders,

it feels good because, like,
I know that I have this.

I can bring them to a "W."
I can bring them to a win.

Being a Saint, it means to…

be respectful, have fun,

and don't think about the past.

[sweeping music plays]

[children yelling indistinctly]

-[boy 1] How much games do we have?
-[boy 2] I think… about five or ten.

-Yeah, five or ten.
-No, I mean, like, the whole season.

-[Aiden] Five or ten!
-[boy] Ten!

So, like, our season, we might go 6-4.

Only if we do good blocking, and…

-Imagine that he jinxes it.
-[boy] That's awesome.

-And we go, like, 0-10.
-[Mykel] How do you know that?

Watch, you could jinx it, bro.
Watch, you gonna jinx it.

[Mykel] Who'd we play last year
for the national championship?

[boy] Huh?

Did we… Did we play the Ravens--

-Yeah.
-…for the national championship?

And then we lost.

[Mykel] When we make it to Florida,
I want revenge.

If we do blocking and good running and--

[Aiden] And get better passing
and better snaps,

yes… we… could!

[grunts]

[Aiden chuckles]

[straining]

Want this one? This is light.

No.

[coach] Remember, grab the bag, all right?

[whistle blows]

Don't push it. Wrap it.

-Okay.
-All right?

[whistle blows]

-[groans]
-There we go.

[boy] To be a Saint,
you have to love everybody.

If somebody's down,
you've got to pick them up.

On all courses.

It's all love in the Brooklyn Saints.

Like, when we on the field,
we're connected.

Instead of just being a sport,
it's like a family.

You can just come together and just talk.

We always go
to each other's birthday parties,

and we also go to their house.

Like, um, we even go
if it's in Long Island.

Everybody on this team is my family.


to the Brooklyn Saints family."

[all] Welcome, Man Man,
to the Brooklyn Saints family.

Everybody give him a quick "Easy"
before we start practice.

[all] Easy!

-Y'all ready to work today?
-Yes, coach.

All right, let me tighten you up
so we can get working, get ready.

[player] Dang, you got big muscles.

But, got a small head.


in your mouth so you're not talking.

[all] Yes, coach.

Yes, coach.

Let's get him! Let's get him!
He ain't going nowhere. Let's get him!

Easy! We want all that smoke this year.
Let's get him!

The Saints organization started
over ten years ago.

I believe in mid-2009.

[man] …for his head though.

My staff consists
of my vice president, Dave,

our founder, Puma, and Shon.

Nice!

And my wife, Khadeja,
which is pretty much our administration.

-[groans]
-[Shon] Get up, get up, get up!

We used to have what they call, "PAL."
"Police Athletic Leagues."

No more.

They used to leave
the schools open for activities.

All of those programs are cut.

This is where we step in.

[Puma] We just try to put you in position
where you can better yourself in life.

It don't have to be with sports.

Doctor, a lawyer, it could be
any one of those things.

As long as we get you a free education,

we did our job.

Let's get three. Easy. Easy.

[Dave] With our program,
it all starts with Coach Gawuala.

-What's up, young man? How you feeling?
-Good.

Welcome to the Saints.
Thanks for coming out.

-Saints, how y'all feel?
-[all] You know!

That is the heart and soul
of our organization.

Everybody, show some love.

It's the Brooklyn way.

Easy. Let's get it.

Happy feet.

-[man] What's going on, bro?
-Let's go, boy. I'm here.

[Gawuala] I started that back in 2009
when we started the organization.

I felt like I had to salute
each kid that came out

to participate into playing football.

'Cause it's not easy and it's a lot.
It's a lot to go through,

so that's just me saluting the kids
for coming out. I salute them.

Three claps and a salute.

Salute you,
salute the Saints, salute your parents.

Just salute to the people
that make it happen.

D-Lo, it's your year this year, baby boy.
You already know.

Yo, stop talking
and pay attention, all right?

[Demel] He brings out
the eagerness and the drive

and determination in them kids.

He makes them believe
that they can do anything,

they can be anybody at any given time.

If Gawuala told some kids
that they could fly,

they'd go home and say,
"Mommy, Daddy, I can fly

because Gawuala said I could fly."

When I say "three," you give me
an "Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!"

One! Two! Three!

[all] Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!

If Coach Gawuala can do it,
you can do it. Call it.

Go! Ready… go!

[coach] I mean, everybody need
to do good in school, always.

School is first.
Responsibility at home.

And then football.

You understand me?

[all] Yes, coach.

[Demel] So, we have three levels.

We have the 9U,
which is seven to the age of nine.

We have an 11U,
which has kids from ten to 11-year-olds.

And we have a 13U,
which has kids from 12 to 13.

Set…

[coach] Watch him.

Go!

[coach] Do the turn. Uh-huh, good.

That's where it's supposed to be.
Do it again!

Set… go!

[Dave] 13U? Boy, oh, boy.

No experience whatsoever.

I would say three kids, probably,
had played football ever.

And, because of that,
Kenan became a leader.

Down! Set… go!

[Kenan] I been playing football
for almost like a decade now.

Since I was four years old.

My brothers, they used to play football.

So, actually, I caught love with it
while watching them playing football.

[Gawuala] We got a couple
of new guys over here, so…

[Kenan] We didn't have a quarterback,
so I decided to step up and take that role

and be the leader.

Squeeze the ball tight, over…

Dart it. All right?

[Kenan] This is my last youth season.

I just want
to bring it out with a good year.

Set… go!

[exclaims]

[coach in distance] Caught
the ball, right? Good!

[Demel] Having my son play on the team,
of course, you'll look at it

like, "Okay, that's his father,
he's gonna get special treatment."

But, on the flip side,
we're really, really hard on him.

We expect more from him
than we expect from anyone else.

We got to keep you working out.

This is gonna be a big year for you
this year, so we've got to have you ready.

[Demel] Stop going away from it.
Stop fading away. Go into the ball.

Better.

Look how far your brother's knee is bent.

Get it bent, then you put this foot back
to where it's comfortable.

[Demel] Set… go!

[grunts]

-Watch your hands right here. Go ahead.
-[coach] Put your hands up.

Your hands up, up, up!
Like you ready to fight.

Like you ready to fight. This is a fight.

When we this close to each other,
we fighting.

-You got it?
-[Kenan] Uh-huh.

Look, you got all your brothers here.
You see how much knowledge you getting?

All right, you're the last of our legacy.
You know we all got you.

Everybody putting everything that we…
All our knowledge,

all our speed, power, energy, into you.

So just take it all in and perform.

-You got it?
-Uh-huh.

All right?

[coach] Even if he is here, boom.
Might get somebody, too close.

[Kenan] Football is like…

I wanna take that as far as I could.

If I can't go to the pros, I'll use it
to my ability to go to college,

get a good education, learn something.

[students speaking indistinctly]

[teacher 1] I said get your robots,
get your laptops,

let's bring our programs up
and let's get to it.

[whirring]

[teacher 1] Where we at, Kenan?

That's so odd.

[teacher 1] I mean, I am leaning
on the table. Try it again.

As young, he would piece puzzles together.
And not like regular, uh…

Big puzzles. Like 100-piece puzzles,
he's like four or five years old.

He didn't even look at the picture.
He'd just take the shapes

and, because of the way the shapes are,

he knew which puzzle piece lined up.
He wouldn't even look at the box.

I knew from then
that this kid is something different.

[chuckles]

[teacher 1] It's stopping there
every time. Why is it doing this?

[Kenan] I put it to 1.4.

[teacher 1] One-point-four?
Well, then, keep adding.

It feel like it's first-and-ten
and we on a goal line

when you watching him compete.

[teacher 2] Ah! Run again.

[Demel] So, when I see him
really execute something,

it's like, "Wow."

It's almost the same feeling he has
when he scores a touchdown.

[Kenan] That one worked out.

-[laughs]
-[teacher 2] That works.

[laughs]

You all right? What's next?

[Kenan] When I started robotics,
I seen this whole new world open up.

And it was just, like,
"I wanna do this when I get older."

[moody music playing]

[man 1] Gawuala, Gawuala!

What's good, Bubba? How you doing, good?

Everything cool?

Yeah, yeah..

-[man 2] What's up, brother?
-You got kids? How old?

Nine and 14.

-Yeah, that's perfect.
-He'll like it.

Give me a pen. I'll give you my number.

He's gonna love it.

-American football, not soccer.
-[man] Yeah.

"Coach Eddie," all right?
I'll bring you some information.

-Thank you. I appreciate it.
-A flyer and some information.

-Thank you. I appreciate you.
-No problem.

All this… All this is my stomping grounds.

My mother was raising six kids
in a two-bedroom apartment.

Uh, she did wonderful work,
what she did with us.

Never been to college.
I don't know what college is.

I never graduated high school.

I never got a chance to walk
across the stage and pick up a diploma.

None of that. I wasn't into that.

I was, um… young and lost in life.
I was reckless.

Um, I didn't think of graduating school
and all, getting a GED, or none of that.

We can't stay in the past.
We got to learn from our mistakes

'cause if you don't learn
from your mistakes,

you're just gonna be lost in the system
and that's what the system wants.

The system wants us to be lost and…

So they can continue to conquer
and keep us divided, and…

We greater than that.

[coach] I wanna see you get
all the way to the six, all right?

[Gawuala] To be a coach is a lot.

'Cause when you a coach,
the world puts you on a pedestal that…

They look at you as a perfection person.

And I'm far from…

I'm far from perfect.
I'm far from a role model.

I'm a human being. I make mistakes.
I have mistakes. I do get stressed.

I have my own problems
that I deal with in life and, um,

I try to keep it separate,
but once in a while, it catches up to me.

Especially, you start
as the young age group like I do,

you basically raise a lot of these kids,

so they definitely become yours,
and a piece of your heart.

So when they hurt, you hurt.

Believe, when you down,
they see it and they know.

So I just feed off the energy they give me
and try to make a positive out of it.


give me a, "Haa!"

[all] Haa!

-Haa!
-[all] Haa!

Yeah, we about to work today.
That's what I like to hear.

[Aiden] Coach Puma?

Are you happy for hell week?

-[Puma] Are you happy?
-Yes, actually.

[coach 1] Hell week.
We practice every day.

…time to get serious, now.

Almost game time.

Two weeks, let's go!

Welcome to your worst nightmare.

[coach 1] Game faces on, let's go!

Go! Go, RJ! Push him, RJ! Let's go!

-[coach] Go!
-[Demel] Good job.

-[coach] Go!
-[Demel] Stay there.

Go!

[whistle blows]

Go!

[blows whistle] Nice!

[Shon] Let's go!
Way to break from it, fellas.

[Puma] I need it louder than that, bro!

-How you feel?
-[players] You know!

Clap it up for y'all selves, man.
Good work, man. Aight?

If we play well this season,

we get a chance to go to Florida
and play for the national championship.

-Who wants to go to Florida?
-[players] Me!

[Puma] First, you have to play well
at the scrimmage

in Long Island. Who's ready?

-[all] We ready!
-[Puma] That's right.

Time to get ready, understand?

-Yes, coach!
-All right!

[coach] For a week, we will be working.
For a week, we will be working.

-[Vick] Down, up!
-[players] Two! Three!

[whistle blowing]

-[Demel] There it is.
-Shake it off!

Go ahead, bro. Use them legs.
Run! You fast!

Let's go.

[Vick] Come in front, D-Lo.

Say, "I don't accept punishment,
I give it."

[players] I don't accept punishment,
I give it.

-[boy] Ready? Let's go.
-[Vick] D-Lo, be a leader.

[yells and grunts]

[players whoop]

[man] Keep it up, keep it up!

[Vick] It's time to work harder.
Any day! Any day, now.

You guys got to get in better shape.

Encourage each other.

Hello? Hello?

[Gawuala] Wake up! I can't hear you!

-How y'all feel?
-[players] You know!

-Break down!
-[players yell]

[coach] Hustle. Let's go!

[Shon] Go.

It is his responsibility
to get you the ball.

There you go.

[drumline playing]

[Aiden] I was raised for hell week, bro.

I was going through hell
since I was three.

[Gawuala] Come Saturday next week,
we going to w*r.

-Do you understand me?
-[players] Yes, coach.

[Gawuala] We have a game to play,
so we have to make a statement now.

-[player yells]
-[Demel] Oh, goodness. Fumble, fumble!

-[player] Fumble! Oh!
-[Gawuala] Come here!

Get this out. Get a minute.
Right now, take a minute.

[boy] Aiden, you alright?

[Gawuala] It's evenly matched.
Tell your brother, "Sorry."

Get him some water.

-You all right?
-Nah, I'm good.

[Gawuala] Give him three. Let's go.
It's all right, Aiden.

It's football, this happens.
You all right.

He ain't mean to hurt you.
Believe me, he didn't.

[Aiden] He did it on accident.

I'm telling y'all the truth.
I was afraid to get back in.

But I've played with them for six years.

If I don't trust them,

why am I here
and what I'm doing here for?

Shake it off. It's all right.
It happens, all right?

-It's my breathing… [whines]
-All right. Just relax. Take this off.

Relax, relax. You excited right now.
Just relax, let him breathe.

-[Dave] Drop your shoulder.
-Come on.

Look. Put your hands up.
Let's go through our nose…

[breathes deeply] Out through our mouth.
In through our nose.

Get your breathing together.
It's a learning lesson.

Next time, drop your shoulder first.
Lowest man wins the battle.

You know that.
You've been with me for four years.

I love you, baby boy!

[Aiden] I know I could do better,
but I don't find it yet in me.

Coach Gawuala, he took me under his wing

and now I'm just playing football
for a living.

That's what I'm trying to do.

-[Dave] Quick question. You making dinner?
-[woman on phone] Yes.

[Dave] All right. We'll be here in about…
It says 52 minutes.

[woman] All right.

[Dave] We only sleep upstate.

We still live in Brooklyn.

[Aiden] Some days, we just take showers
and go to sleep.

Yup. And then wake up
right the next morning.

[Aiden] Yup. Not even the morning,
in the night.

Oh, it's the morning, bro.

-[Aiden] 4:30 is the morning?
-Yes.

On a practice day,
practice is over at 8:00.

Driving everybody home,

and peoples who don't have rides
that we have to give them rides,

I figure we leave Brooklyn at 9:00,
get there about 10:30, 11:00-ish.

And then we're up every morning at 4:30.

-[Aiden] Yeah.
-Rolled-eyes emoji.

[Aiden sighs]

[Dave] It's a lot slower
once you get up there and a lot peaceful.

[Aiden] Upstate is like my vacation.

And Brooklyn is just all business,
about football and school.

[somber music playing]

[Dave] Hey, lady.

So, let me ask you a question.
How everybody gets a "hi"

when they walk in,

but you don't say nothing to me?

[son] Hey, sir.

-It's me for TV.
-All right, stop.

[laughs]

[explosions and g*nf*re on TV]

[Dave] Is this what
you been doing all day?

Yeah… well, not all day.

Grandma was on
in the morning like always.

-You blaming Grandma?
-I'm not--

-Don't throw Grandma under that bus.
-All right.

-[Grandma] You good?
-Yeah.

Okay.

[explosions continue on TV]

[gentle music playing]

[Dave] They love it up here.

And they don't mind me driving.

Grandma…

that's my rock.

She helps out a lot.

I grew up without a father.

So…

you kind of wing it as you go.

And what mistakes I've made
with the oldest,

I fixed with the youngest.

Brooklyn Saints is a second job.

A non-paying, volunteer,
non-profit second job.

I've got 61 boys
that I got to take care of.

Plus, coaches and staff.

You know, these boys deserve the best.

So…

Men do wonderful things
when they put their heart first.

-It's time to get up.
-[Aiden sighs]

-Here, bud.
-See you later, sir.

-[Aiden] Why you always do that, Dad?
-Do what?

Put your hands on your face.

So I get 13 seconds of sleep.

[Dave] There's a lot of opportunities
for my boys down here

than it is up there, as far as football.

So…

it's my routine every day.

[enchanting music playing]

♪ Don't need to worry about it ♪

I got it, hold on.

[coach] Good morning. How are you?

-[boy 1] This is very--
-[boy 2] No, that was it. That was it.

[Gawuala] Ahhh! Let's get it!
Huh? Huh? Let's go now.

You with me yet? Get up on y'all feet!

Let's rock with Gawuala.
Rock with Gawuala, yeah!

Let's get it. Rock with Gawuala, Saints.
Rock with Gawuala!

-We're gonna have fun. Is that understood?
-Yes, coach!

One option on today's menu is to have fun.

Forget about the mistakes.
I don't care about that.

All I care about
is you guys having fun today.

-Is that understood?
-Yes, coach!

-Break down!
-[all yell]

-Break down!
-[all yell]

Let's get it, fellas.

[man] Quiet down. Quiet down. Quiet down.

This ain't fair.

This ain't fair.

I'm keeping getting rained on.

[boy] Yo! It's dripping!

[Aiden] It's falling in my eyes.

See? I keep my babies dry.

Puerto Ricans is nice with tape.
We can fix anything with tape.

-[boy] I'm Puerto Rican!
-I know. You'll fix a car with tape.

Watch when you get older.

-Understand the mathematics now. Hey?
-[laughing]

-[D-Lo] Get outta here.
-Huh, D-Lo?

We make dirt bikes
out of tape, baby. Easy.

[players chattering]

[boy] I used to live in Pennsylvania,

so I saw houses like these,
but not a lot of them.

[coach] We six minutes away.
Let's get ready.

Huh. The neighborhoods over here
are way different from where we at.

Their football programs are sponsored
by their communities,

by the Nassau Police Department,
by some police department.

Our growth comes from our parents,

to where it's harder for us to get funding
in inner-city stuff for our kids

because where we are coming from,
in Brooklyn.

We actually had a team forfeit

because they didn't want
to come to Brooklyn.

So, that's the demographic.

It's hard to get teams to come
to Brooklyn to play. It's very hard.

The location--
-[players cheering and yelling]

There they go.

[yelling indistinctly]

[coach] There they go.

[gentle music plays]

[man 1] Come on. Get your stuff on.

[man 2] Let's go, let's go, let's go!

Let's go, let's go, let's go!

[Puma] First scrimmage,
they get a feel of what it's gonna be.

'Cause we got a lot of kids
that never played before.

This is great for them,

because we usually don't play
on fields like this, you know?

So, it's a good look for them.

They feel like they're out
of the state somewhere,

but we're still in New York, you know.

But this is the kind of environment
they're gonna see in Florida.

So, if we make it to Florida, um,
this is what they're gonna see,

and it's not gonna be anything new.

They're gonna know how to act
and, uh, perform.

-[boy] Five! Six! Seven!
-[players] Five! Six! Seven!

[Gawuala] Let's shake the Bulldogs' hands.
Tell them thanks for today's work.

Shake their hands.

Know what I'm saying?
Let's smack on them, y'all.

No Saint put your head down
if you make a mistake.

You show me a perfect person,
I'll show you a perfect liar.

-Is that understood?
-Yes, coach!

-Is that understood?
-Yes, coach!

I love and believe
in every last one of y'all.

Defense, let's go!
It's bang-bang season.

-[Gawuala] How y'all feel?
-[players] You know!

-[coach] One, two, three.
-Truth!

-[Gawuala] Saints, I believe in y'all.
-[boy] Yo, Mikey!

[Dede] Let's go, Saints!

[cheering]

Hut!

[gospel music playing]

[Dede] Hold him back.
Right there, right there!

Yeah! Yeah!

Here we go!

[grunting]

-[whistle blows]
-[cheering]

[coach] That's right! That's right!

Let's go! Where are you going?
Where are you going? Nowhere!

-[Gawuala] Let's go!
-[coach] There it is!

[all yelling and cheering]

[coach] Go, go! Run!

[Gawuala] Get it in!

If you stand inside and sh**t that gap
as soon as the ball is hiked,

they can't get nothing.

He's big. I'm big too, right?
You letting me push you?

-[boy] No.
-Don't let me push you.

Don't let him push you either.

D-Lo! When he gets right here,
say go, turn, fake him.

You got it?

Ready… go!

-[coach 1] No half-stepping.
-[coach 2] Let's go, D-Lo.

[fans exclaim]

[Gawuala] Keep going, keep going!

[coach] Get back up! That's how you play!
That's how you play!

-You get back up and you do it!
-That's how you blow 'em up, baby!

[Gawuala] Huh! Go up top! Go up top!

I told you one-on-one
to give 'em that game.

[coach] Get on the ball!

All you can.

[coach] Get on the ball!

♪ That's how he works ♪

♪ We must not question the Good Lord ♪

Watch the cook up, baby!
Watch the cook up. Hey, D-Lo!

-[whistle blows]
-[Gawuala] Yeah!

-[coach 1] Go, go, go!
-[coach 2] Y'all there!

[Gawuala] He scored. He scored!

[all cheering]

Saints on Gawuala!

-How y'all feel?
-You know!

-How y'all feel?
-You know!

[coach] Good job, boys.

-[Gawuala] Let's go! Good work!
-[coach] Let's go.

Now, y'all doing very good out here.

-I'm very impressed by what I'm seeing.
-[coach] Good job!

I've got seven-year-olds stepping up.
Eight-year-olds stepping up.

My vets, y'all stepping up so big,
it's incredible.

All we can do as coaching staff

and as a team and as a family
is learn from each other.

-Is that understood?
-Yes, coach!

-Tito had a dope block for D-Lo.
-Yeah.

-On the corner end.
-Yeah.

And we got a bunch of first-timers
on the team, man.

We got a bunch of…
We got five, six first-timers on the team.

-And two seven-year-olds.
-Yeah!

-Two seven-year-olds.
-[man] The seven-year-olds was doing it.

[moody music playing]

[whistle blows in distance]

King.

Go on, get dressed.

-21. Savion?
-Throw it, throw it.

That's where you're supposed to be at.

-[Gawuala] How y'all feel?
-[players] You know!

-Let's go!
-Rush 'em!

Remember your assignments,
where you're supposed to step.

You hear, "shift left,"
you know where to go, right?

-Yes, coach.
-Right?

-Yes, coach!
-[coach] No hesitation.

[Gawuala] Gonna kick the ball…

Body bags.

I wanna hear
all the bang-bang, bing, booms.

-We playing tough today, aight?
-Yes, coach.

-[coach] Y'all ready to play this game?
-Yes, coach!

[boy] Oh! Ow, ow, ow!

[referee] Go to your sideline
and wait for me to come over.


Our big brothers is playing. Let's work.

[boy 1] We can learn from them.

-[boy 2] I cannot see, Coach Isaiah.
-[whistle blows]

-[grunting]
-[player] The ball, the ball!

Get your split. All you need to do
is snap him the ball, bro.

[whistle blows]

-Who is not blocking?
-You gotta go forward, Tyrel.

You gotta hold your man!

You're not blocking, play shotgun.

[coach] Go, Kenan, go! Go, Kenan.

-[cheering]
-[whistle blows]

[coach] Let's go, Kenan! Let's go, Kenan!

[9U players] Let's go, Kenan!
Let's go, Kenan!

[coach] Yo!

Yo, Trey!

-No, Trey--
-[opponents cheer]

[whistle blows]

[coach] Stop this crying.
What did I told you about that anger?

You don't let them tears fall.
You inflict that pain on somebody else.

Where is the testosterone in the house?
Why does everybody cry?

Everybody cries.

[Gawuala] It's 2019.

What?

[Gawuala] It's 2019.

Oh, my God. Oh!

[Gawuala] They sensitive.

I need a Tylenol or a Motrin or something.

[Kenan] Huddle! Laser.

If we get a touchdown on the play,
we won the game.

-[coach] Let's go!
-[Kenan] Go!

Let's go, let's go!

Let's go!

Rack it up! Yes, yes!

-[coach] That's how you play the best…
-[Dede] Six, zip!

[Kenan] Boom!

-That's right!
-[woman] We got this!

We do'ed it! Oh!

[coach] Keep your head up, young man.
Y'all balled out.

Keep your head up, fellas. Way to ball!
Keep y'all heads up. Way to ball!

[players yelling]

I got something to say.

We got two weeks of practice
before our next game.

-I need everybody at practice.
-Yes, sir.

-All right?
-[all] Yes, captain.

I don't care if y'all come late.
I need you at practice, all right?

-[all] Yes, captain.
-All right?

-All right, bring it in. One, two, three!
-[all] Hard work!

[Gawuala] …energy for game time.
B-Rock, I'll see you later.

Look, another balloon.

[boy 1] Look, another balloon!
It's going to China?

[boy 2] Yes, the balloon's going to China.

[boys continue indistinctly]

[inspiring music plays]

[boys chattering]

If you knew how to catch better,
it would've been two-nothing.

-[Dave] We're going to the Poconos.
-[boy] To the Poconos?

-That's the Poconos, isn't it?
-[boy] We're going to PA, right?

[Dave] It's the Poconos, right?

[Dave] Coach Moe and Coach Gawuala does
a lot for their kids. Not just football.

-Y'all ready to have some fun up there?
-[boy 1] Yes.

Coach Gawuala, is the place
actually haunted?

I don't know.
We gonna figure it out tonight.

[Dave] Coming from the city,

and only seeing bricks and pavement, and…

You know, it takes a lot
to sleep outside in the wild,

when this is where you come from.

[Gawuala] Now, hold it right there.

It's gonna stand right now, Miguel.
Trust this, watch this.

Hold that, A.

-As a matter of fact, hold this.
-I can hold it now.

Right there.

-[Gawuala] Okay, see what I just did?
-Uh-huh.

-[boy] Hey, yo, Coach.
-Yes, sir?

The ridges isn't connected to one of them.

[Gawuala] Give me one second.

[Vick] D-Lo.

-What?
-Put it through the hole, man.

-Two, three, four, five, six.
-Three, four, five, six.

[grunting]

[Vick] You wanna eat? Grab a rock.
Help him carry that rock.

Okay…

[boy 1] Coach Gawuala…

Do you know the WiFi password?

[Gawuala] There's no such thing as WiFi
in the woods.

-[boy 1] Oh!
-[Gawuala] You are out of the city.

You are living the "wilderless" life.

There's no cable, no WiFi, no internet,

no Facebook, no Snapchat, no nothing.

You know how you communicate?

-[boy 2] He got YouTube.
-See how we're talking?

-That's called communication.
-I know.

That's how you communicate
amongst your brothers.

-What if we're separated?
-Listen. Shh! This is why we're camping.

So we can get a bond
and we can be brothers.

-We can communicate better.
-[boy 3] Is there any water?

So when it comes game time…
Give me a second.

Comes game time,
and coach relays a message to Miguel

and Miguel relays it
to the rest of the team,

our "communication" is up to par
and we know what we got to do,

-as one team. Is that understood?
-[all] Yes, coach.

-[Aiden] How many packs you had?
-[boy] What?

-How many packs of chips you had?
-Two.

Two? We're only supposed to get one.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, I only had one.

-[Kodak] Give me my phone back.
-[boy] Oh, good. It's that one again.

[Gawuala] Kodak!

I do not care what's the circumstance.

You do not touch nobody's child out here.

-Do you got me?
-Yes.

You wanna put your hands on somebody,

you go pick up a brick
and throw it at a tree.

I wasn't gonna touch him.

It's just that he took my phone
and I was trying to get it back.

Okay, come to Coach Gawuala.
Let Coach Gawuala deal with it. Got it?

Anything you need, if you feel opposite,
you feel like you gotta scream,

you come to Coach Gawuala first.

If we have to scream together,
we'll do it together,

-is that understood?
-Yes, coach.

Give me my three.

Easy. I love you.

Go help your brothers out.

[sizzling]

-[boy] Thank you.
-[coach] Okay.

[Gawuala] How many guys is having fun?
Raise your hand.

We brought you guys camping

for the simple fact
y'all played a wonderful game.

Y'all starting to understand football.
Y'all starting to have fun in football.

So we decided to bring you guys camping
to enjoy the time out here.

How many guys heard cop cars
driving past just now?

You heard a cop car drove past here?

-[boy 1] Mm-mmm.
-[boy 2] No.

-[Aiden] Did you say a cop car?
-That's the difference.

How many guys seen police drive past here
or heard an ambulance drive through here?

Nobody, right? This is why we do this.

So we can take you out
of your everyday environment.

How many of you guys feel free right now?
Raise your hand.

Good. That's telling me

nobody's thinking about anything back home
that they shouldn't be thinking about.

I don't coach football
for wins and losses.

I coach football to teach you young guys
how to be young men,

and when you become your own men,

how to be a stronger man
and stand tall on your own two feet.

I love you guys like you're my own child.

[boy 1] Love you, too.

[boy 2] Love you, too.

[Gawuala] Y'all know my big motto.
Who love you?

-[all] You! Coach Gawuala.
-Who love me?

-[all] Me. Us.
-Who love you?

-[all] Coach Gawuala.
-Who love me?

[all] Us.

[Gawuala] Good job, guys.

Y'all can go have fun.

[grunting]

[gentle soul music playing]

[Aiden] Get off of me!

[Gawuala] Every year starts
a new Cinderella story.

The Cinderella story never stays the same.
There's just a new one every year.

It's always beautiful.
It's always beautiful.

-Oh!
-[laughing]

[Vick] That desire
to have that championship,

to be on that stage
and say you're a national champion.

It's a chase every year.

[coach] Everybody goes through
trials and tribulations,

everybody has to experience
things different.

Keeping them off the street, focused
at school, disciplined in the home,

will ensure that they become
positive men as they get older.

And that's our goal.

It's time to go to work, gentlemen.

-Let's go.
-[boy] Don't be offside.

[Aiden] The game's not all about strength
and speed and all of that.

Probably like 5% of each.

It's all about being wise,

and connecting with all of your teammates.

It's like the coaches.

They see what you can do,

but yourself,
you don't know what you can do.

[players] Eleven, twelve, thirteen…

[D-Lo] When Coach Gawuala said
that this is your year, I was like,

"This really is my year. I can shine."

"I'm just out here doing my thing.
Do what I have to do."

It's gonna be exciting.
It's gonna be something never seen before.

-[Gawuala] Who the show?
-[all] We the show!

-Am I my brother's keeper?
-[all] You already know!

-Am I my brother's keeper?
-[all] You already know!

Number one rule today is to have fun.
Is that understood?

[all] Yes, coach!

All I wanna do is have fun.

-Is that understood?
-Yes, coach!

-Rule number one is to do what?
-Have fun!

-To do what?
-Have fun!

I love every last one of you guys.

[cheerleaders] Let's go,
Brooklyn, let's go!

[Gawuala] This one's gonna be epic.

I put my life on the line for this one.

-[whistle blows]
-[D-Lo] Go!

Ready… go!

[drumline playing]