Trophy Kids

One of the most depressing movies I have seen. LEAVE COACHING TO THE COACHES. The level of incompetence shown by the parents is unbelievable. They have killed their kids childhood and their relationship with their children for the sake of trying to achieve their own unfulfilled dreams. HAVING A KID DOES NOT MAKE YOU A COACH !!!!!! AND IT SURE AS HELL DOES NOT MAKE YOU A GOOD PARENT. Watch how the golf coach interacted with the little girl, watch how much better the basketball kid played without his dad there. There it was in black and white.

Rarely have I been angrier than when I watched this documentary. The film is about some kids who have parents who are the ultimate helicopter sports parents--parents who insist their children MUST succeed and at any cost. What will you see in this film? Well, several parents use threats of physical abuse to motivate their little athletes. All of them use emotional blackmail and emotional abuse (though the mother of the tennis players wasn't as bad in this respect) and literally have robbed their children of childhoods. And again and again, it's shocking that these parents haven't had their kids taken away from them and the schools have often caved in to their bullying. It is not an exaggeration that these parents are among the most vile you could imagine. After all, a crack-addicted parent could blame crappy parenting on the drug but these parents have no such excuse.

Okay, it's obvious the film created a huge emotional reaction within me. But what about the technical merits? Well, when the film began I noticed that the camera-work was simply awful--and the camera bounced around as if it was using a monkey cam. Fortunately, it DOES get better...so stick with it. My only question, though, is how could the filmmakers watch all this abuse and not get involved? Sure, I know they wanted to make a film but there also comes a point where you'd think they'd have a responsibility to take their material to Children's Services.

By the way, if you want to watch a film that touches on SOME of this but offers a much wider range of parenting and the children's enjoyment of the game, try "The Short Game". And, incidentally, one of the vilest parents is in BOTH films.

Overall, I'd say the film is good despite some technical glitches because it DOES get your attention and hold it. But it also is VERY frustrating because the viewer REALLY wants to know what's happened to these poor kids.

For me sport is fun, for me sport is about being competitive but after riding my bike it is about beating my previous PB or doing well, thats my achievement.

For my daughter in swimming and yes dancing it is great to see her happy winning a trophy or being in the swim team, I say to her, be the best you can then you can never say you never tried.

That is all we should ask of our kids but now the money is so much, any kid with a slight bit of talent is pushed and pushed. Very few make it and the stories of the failures (they are not to me) are common all over.

Money is driving parents to look at the $$ signs and not what is best for their kid. A talented and determined kid will always come through, a bullied kid will fail. I look at Andy Murray, for sure his parents and esp Mum pushed him but it is clear he is a normal functioning guy with normal emotions. It is clear he was never pushed beyond what he wanted to do and he won.

On this program these parents don't see beyond themselves and their own egos and wallets, That is all that matters to them, why have kids I ask ?

Parents... horrible. I'm sure they are not all like the ones in this movie, but wow. It just angered me to watch how these parents behaved toward their kids and people around them. Amari (little golfer) had the worst, with her over bearing father cursing & swearing... calling her names that NO parent should EVER call their little daughter.

For the two basketball kids, wow, they truly are talented with this ball skills, but the physical limitations were pretty obvious, especially against those Division I ready kids.

At the end of the day, the parents had no idea what these kids wanted to do.. One of the parents actually saying that she's doing everything to help her kids achieve their dream... which frankly was her dream.

The documentary starts off with a look at the training some of the kids go through. It is intense stuff, and from their training they look like they could play their respective sport really well. However, I was surprised to see initially, that they weren't doing that well come game time. Also, it didn't help that their parents were on the side yelling at them.

It is very disconcerting to know that children are being raised like this, because I am sure it happens. This documentary does at times feel like a reality show, since the people being filmed obviously know they are being filmed, and sometimes get prompts to answer questions. But, I did like that we could hear the questions being asked, as it did add some 'spontaneity' to their answers.

As well, the editing and sequence of the scenes are well done. I do feel like we see a bit more of the two basketball athletes (which is fine by me), but we see more of their games and not much after game talk. I do wonder where the other half of the kids' parents/ family are. We get glimpses of them on screen from time to time, but they don't give any comment.

For the most part, the cinematography is good, with close ups and long shots. However, there are instances where it feels more like a found film, with the camera handled by a rookie, or teens on the run. Some scenes would start with an extreme close up of the parent, and zoom out, with the camera shaking a bit as well. While that does add to the documentary aspect of it, perhaps it is an indication that this is a low budget film.

Overall, a terrifying watch, with parents thinking they always know the best. Some of their behavior can definitely be contested as emotional abuse to their children.