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Training Rules

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Synopsis

Narrated by international swimming legend Diana Nyad (National Public Radio), Training Rules examines how women's collegiate sports, caught in a web of homophobic practices, destroyed the dreams of many of its most talented athletes. Specifically, the documentary examines the Penn State's women's basketball program under 26 year veteran Rene Portland. She had three rules in her program: No drinking, No drugs, No lesbians. After years of discrimination documented here, Portland was sued by a player and Penn State was forced to confront the issue.

3 Reasons To buy this film

Festival-goers loved this documentary!
An important story of a contemporary civil rights battle.
Dee Mosbacher won the Barbara Gittings award in 2009.

Review

Broomall, PA native Rene Portland's list of accomplishments is long: she was a star player with the Mighty Macs of Immaculata Collage (winners of three national championships and a second place finish in her four years there); twice voted "Coach of the Year" by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA); and head coach of Penn State's women's basketball team, the Lady Lions, for 27 of her 31 years as a college basketball head coach. She's a fierce competitor and a proven winner on the court, and part of that success, to her, may have been her strictly enforced policies of no drinking, no drugs and no lesbians. Star high school player Jennifer Harris entered Penn State and became a starting member of the team, only to find herself inexplicably removed two years later. Academy Award nominated filmmaker Dee Mosbacher (Radical Harmonies, No Secret Anymore: The Times of Del Martin & Phyllis Lyon) examines Portland's coaching environment and the impact that the controversial case Harris v Portland and Penn State had on Harris, her parents (Pearl and Lambert Harris) as well as six other women who have suffered emotional scars, and the loss of scholarships and promising basketball careers when their sexual orientation was discovered. Under the terms of settlement, Harris herself is forbidden to discuss the case.

-- Carol Coombes

Awards

Best LGBT Film — Atlanta LGBT Film Festival
Best Documentary — Pikes Peak LGBT Film Fest
Best Documentary — Birmingham LGBT Film Fest
Best Documentary — Frameline San Francisco Int'l LGBT Film Fest

Festivals

Philadelphia Qfest
Pikes Peak LGBT Film Fest
Atlanta LGBT Film Festival
Birmingham LGBT Film Fest
Michigan Womyn's Film Festival
Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
Pittsburgh Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Miami & Fort Lauderdale LBT Film Festival
Frameline San Francisco Int'l LGBT Film Fest
One in Ten: Washington DC LGBT Film Festival

Product Format Information

DVD : $21.99

Availability: In stock and ready to ship
Close Caption: Yes
Region Code: 1
UPC: 754703763365
Catalog #: DV2813182
Studio: Wolfe Releasing
Languages: English Dolby Digital 2.0 (Primary)
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen
Extras: Trailers
Features:
Bonus interviews (from other campuses)

Keywords

College/Campus Life, Documentary, Homophobia, Philadelphia, Sports

Features

12 Days of Holiday Sale, Lesbian Bestsellers

Customer Reviews

Women's Collegiate Sports

Amos Lassen wrote on 11/10/2009:

“Training Rules”
Women’s Collegiate Sports
Amos Lassen
There are still many challenges that face the GLBT community and this kind of discrimination takes place behind closed doors. In the new documentary “Training Rules” takes a look at the world of women’s collegiate sports which suffers from practices of homophobia and destroys the lives and dreams of many talented young athletes.
Rene Portland has been coaching basketball at Pennsylvania State University for 26 years. She has a strict policy of no drinking, no drugs and no lesbians. The film takes a look at Penn State and how a wealthy athletic department can dismiss athletes from the college team if they are suspected to be gay. In 2006 a lawsuit was filed against the university and Portland by a student athlete, Jennifer Harris and it set the world of collegiate sports on fire and brought about discussions that were necessary to end discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Directed by Dee Mosbacher and Fawn Yacker and narrated by Diana Nyad, international swimming great, the film takes a careful look at an abhorrent practice.