Storm Stars Take On "Heart of the Game"
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Storm Tracker"The Heart of the Game," the Ward Serrill documentary that tells the story of the Roosevelt High School girls basketball team, highlighted by star guard Darnellia Russell, has moved many viewers thus far.
"It captures an authentic feel-good spirit and inspirational message that most Hollywood movies barely approximate," read the USA Today's review.
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Sue Bird and 
Betty Lennox.
Lennox has yet to see the film, which opened in Seattle last week, but in chatting with Russell and hearing her story, she saw a part of herself.
"That's probably a spitting image of me in her, besides her having a baby," says Lennox. "I see the hard road that she's been through. I can see where she's wanted to give up but didn't."
The drama in Russell's story came when, after already establishing herself as a star at Roosevelt, she missed an entire season to give birth to daughter Trekayla. To earn a fifth year of eligibility, she had to go to court against the WIAA. Although Russell was eventually able to play, scholarship offers dried up. Russell has attended North Seattle Community College and hopes to transfer to a four-year college.
For Lennox, the road to the WNBA from rural Oklahoma - where she grew up playing six-on-six basketball, an archaic version of the game where three players for each team played on each half of the court - also led through junior college before she emerged as a star at Louisiana Tech. Along the way, there were times Lennox could have quit but kept going, as has Russell.
"It's easy nowadays to say, 'I'm done with it. I have a child and I'm supposed to get a job rather than living out a dream,'" Lennox observes. "No matter what happens in life, you have to make sure that you do what you've always wanted to do."
In Resler, the Roughriders' gruff coach with a heart of gold, Lennox sees coaches who believed in her, notably Kurt Budke, her head coach at Trinity Valley Junior College, and Louisiana Tech Head Coach Leon Barmore.
"If you don't have those supporters around you, those positive role models around you, you will give up on yourself," Lennox says. "My coach at Louisiana Tech really believed in me. My coach that coached me in junior college really believed in me. With the outsiders believing in you, it makes it easier and makes you more determined to believe in yourself, go out and work hard, be aggressive to be successful in what you do."
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"I spoke with her and told her, 'Whatever you do in life, don't let anything stop you,'" says Lennox. "'Just because you have a child, that doesn't mean anything. Don't stop doing what you hoped and dreamed to do.' I told her to continue to try to fulfill her dreams. Right now she's going to school."
For Bird, the movie had a different impact. In a star-studded career at storied Christ the King High School, she did not experience the same kinds of obstacles. Still, she saw her high-school experience reflected at times in the movie.
"Darnellia is the main character, but it touches on a lot of the different girls," says Bird. "Ever if I can't directly relate to any of the girls, I can see myself in parts of the story."
Bird pointed out a Storm tie in the movie - Lindsey Wilson, a former practice-squad member and one-time Storm training-camp invitee, was one of Resler's early stars at Roosevelt. Bird also took notice of the atmosphere for high-school basketball in the state of Washington, something she misses while spending her off-seasons in Russia.
Russell hopes to play in the WNBA, but for now she remains somewhat in awe of the Storm's stars. During the taping of the show, host LZ Granderson asked Lennox when she knew she was better at basketball than other girls. "I still don't know that," said Lennox, but Russell disagreed, gushing, "You all are so good."
It's Russell's story, however, that has proven to be inspirational.
"I think it's a huge deal for those out there that don't believe in themselves or who have given up on their dream," says Lennox. "I think that movie will touch a lot of peoples' hearts."