Spring Break
Film showcases life lessons
Kaylah Baca
Issue date: 2/18/09 Section: Focus
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Multiple UConn organizations sponsored the event and ample students attended, with many people staying at the end of the documentary to ask questions of Mackenzie.
A mother of three, Mackenzie told the audience that young children can teach us a lot. Through sports, she wanted to teach her own children the life lessons that playing on a team can teach anyone.
"Social impact films can create change" said Mackenzie, a New York City native raised by parents who worked in the fine arts.
The film follows the story of a young girls' soccer team, and the first clip showed the young girls interacting and playing together. The young girls talked about their coach, their dreams for when they grew up and how they don't have to be boys to be good at sports.
Trust, teamwork and work ethic are just a few of the life lessons that Mackenzie discussed. She also talked about how "practice makes perfect" and that losing should be used to improve. Plus, she noted, sports is a natural anti-depressant: girls who play sports generally have higher self-esteem and fewer eating disorders.
"Having a good leader is an experience that stays with us for a lifetime," Mackenzie said. "Good leadership creates self-confident people."
In order to give the girls some competition after the team staying undefeated for two years, the coach enrolled the girls in the boys' soccer division. Many of the kids in the film questioned their coaches' move by wondering if she had gone crazy.
Through the documentary's clips, it was evident that even at a young age, gender discrimination takes place. Mackenzie touched on the subject of the differences in language used when it comes to boys or girls. The issue of equality was an important factor Mackenzie considered in social change.
"I thought the topics she talked about were really relatable," said Monica Webb, a 2nd-semester biology major. "I like what she had to say."
One young boy in the documentary said the girls had an 'on' button for when they are nice and then they have an 'off' button and that's when they turned mean - or when they played soccer.
"Kick Like A Girl" came to be when Dr. Mackenzie decided to just "take the plunge" by creating a social impact documentary film. The idea came to her midlife while she was coaching her daughter's soccer team, which is the team followed in the documentary.
The 30-minute documentary airs on HBO on Thursday, May 28.
Contact Info:
Dr. Mackenzi
jenny@jennymackenziefilms.com
Monica Webb
Monica.Webb@uconn.edu
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