Boys of Summer

Directed by Keith Aumont

United States (2010)

 

When you think of Caribbean baseball, you think of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. But what about Curaçao?

With the Little League World Series (LLWS) of baseball about to start in just a few weeks, Boys of Summer is a great chance to catch the behind-the-scenes of a team representing Curaçao, a small Caribbean nation with a population under 200,000. There are many sports stories that make better non-fiction pieces than they do fictional ones, and this documentary falls under that category. Being a fan of ESPN's 30 for 30 series and baseball, this is a unique story of competition, not from today's biggest stars, but tomorrow's.

Boys of Summer follows the 2008 LLWS team on their journey become world champions. The film takes the audience through the players & manager's profiles and their training schedule, their journey through the Caribbean Games, and all the way to the LLWS. As you follow their journey, you learn about what it has taken to get Curaçao into 7 consecutive LLWS tournaments (at the time of this film) and the team who, at the end of the day, is just a group of smiling kids with major league dreams.

This Tribeca Film Festival entry is a great take on what it takes to be an athlete, even from the age of eight. I would have liked to have seen more of a profile of Curaçao and why the director Keith Aumont specifically chose Curaçao. But I imagine that it has something to do with the exceptional baseball interest this island has, and the fact that it has sent some of its players to the major league, including 10-time Golden Glove winner Andruw Jones, who showed exceptional skill in the outfield during his baseball career.

And if I haven't convinced you to watch this movie now because not only are there subtitles, but it is a film about baseball, I suggest watching it in 10 years to see which of these kids featured in the film actually are playing on the San Francisco Giants or the Atlanta Braves (just as long as none of them become Yankees).