Calendar – Past Event

"Kick Like a Girl" Is Part Of A "Girls' Night Out" Featuring Debuts Of Three Documentaries

After two undefeated seasons against girls' soccer teams their age and older, Utah's Mighty Cheetahs are about to take on a new challenge: boys. Cheetahs coach Jenny Mackenzie chronicles the adventures of these third-grade underdogs as they set out to prove their game skills and overcome the skepticism of opponents and parents in the inspiring family documentary KICK LIKE A GIRL, debuting THURSDAY, MAY 28 (6:00-6:30 pm ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.

Combining compelling game footage and photography with anecdotes from players, parents and coaches, KICK LIKE A GIRL is narrated by Coach Jenny's eight-year-old daughter Lizzie, a feisty, self-declared soccer girl who refuses to allow juvenile diabetes, elbow blocks or grass stains to get in the way of her desire to compete. Lizzie, who gives herself insulin shots six or seven times a day, hopes to become a surgeon and raise money for diabetes and asthma research. She and her diverse team of friends and players compete with style and charisma. Lizzie explains the team's magic on the field by noting, "We feel like superheroes, and we can conquer anything!"

Since the girls went undefeated in two straight seasons, Coach Jenny felt it was time for a new challenge. Wanting "them to experience winning, as well as losing and tying, I thought, ‘Well, why don't we enter the boys' division?'," she explains. Mackenzie's request was unprecedented in the kids' soccer league and some parents were concerned the girls would get hurt. But Mackenzie and the Mighty Cheetahs were confident it was the boys who should be worried.

Sure enough, the Mighty Cheetahs win their first three inter-gender games by a handy margin, surprising many of the boys, who admit the girls have officially "creamed" them. Shouting from the sidelines, the boys' parents find a girls' victory more difficult to digest, underscoring deep-seated attitudes about gender roles in American sports - attitudes the Mighty Cheetahs are challenging by their actions.

KICK LIKE A GIRL examines the origin of gender stereotypes and considers what the phrase "kick like a girl" really means, on and off the playing field. After watching the Mighty Cheetahs dominate on the soccer field, the boys, the parents and the audience alike come to find that "kick like a girl" can be a big compliment after all. As one of the boys observes, "If my friends say ‘you kick like a girl,' I'd be like, ‘Yeah, that's nice. Thank you!' "

KICK LIKE A GIRL is one of three presentations from HBO Family debuting May 28 on HBO. The others are Jay Rosenblatt's "Beginning Filmmaking" (5:30-6:00 p.m.), about an award-winning filmmaker's efforts to teach his four-year-old daughter his craft, and Amy Schatz's "Hard Times for an American Girl: The Great Depression" (6:30-7:00 p.m.), showing what it was like to "group up" during the Great Depression. The feature film "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" will be seen immediately following the three documentaries at 7:00 p.m.

KICK LIKE A GIRL was directed, produced and coached by Jenny Mackenzie; produced by Jennifer Jordan; executive producer, Geralyn White Dreyfous; written by Jenny Mackenzie and Jennifer Jordan; edited by Christine Siegel Elder; original music by Mike Sasich and Erik Dodd.