Picture This: It’s 1953 in the hot, dusty panhandle of Texas and the extremities of Oklahoma’s tornado alley. Dancing is prohibited in most towns. Ads prescribing women’s limited life roles run rampant. The children, particularly girls, of poor farming families have little chance of receiving higher education. A young woman’s dreams of becoming an All-American Basketball Hall of Famer do not exist – yet in our story – dreams riding aloft seeming impossibilities are exactly how our story comes to life.
Set against the social norms of 1950s Texas and the challenges of the socio-economic times, a lucky and talented few formed The Hutcherson Flying Queens – what would otherwise become known as the most winning (and glamorous) amateur basketball team in US history. FLYING QUEENS: A Basketball Dynasty is not only a film about how one team came together to carve their niche in basketball history but is also a human interest story about how these women and the men who supported them dared to live boldly as trailblazers throughout their lives.
The film focuses on key players, coaches, and sponsors who were with the team from 1953-1958 over the course of their record-holding 131 game winning streak, and travels through their lives from childhood to their life-changing careers. It opens the doors to the world of the Flying Queens where abundant wealth and opportunity meets deeply-rooted social and economic struggles. These are the stories of legends and chance!
- The visionary president of Wayland Baptist College, James Marshall, implements radical ideas to recruit students and bring people to the lord.
- Two twins, Faye and Raye, have trouble abiding country lady etiquette. One shoots to win a national championship with only 5 seconds remaining in the game while the other holds an unparalleled defensive record.
- A dynamic duo and long-time friends, Cookie and Kaye, become warriors on and off the court. They fight to win basketball games and later on, one overcomes adversities to become the first female official and the other, battles to implement Title IX.
- The men’s basketball coach, Harley, grows so intrigued by the talented young Queens that he leaves his men’s team to coach them. Over decades, he propels numerous changes in the national rules of the women’s game to allow the players to demonstrate their full athletic potential and develop the game into what it is today.
- A farm town girl, Lometa, learns how to play with the boys in the dirt and goes on to become an All-American, Pan-American, and Basketball Hall-of-Famer.
- A local businessman and benefactor, Claude, makes the university’s women’s basketball team his passion project and consequentially, bankrolls everything from their uniforms and equipment to evening clothes, plane rides, and full scholarships in exchange for unparalleled visibility for his flying service.
Viewers share the experience as a chosen few join the USA team to play before the roaring crowds of the World Games, and, in the spirited tradition of world-class athletes, their journey culminates as they win four consecutive Amateur Athletic Union Championships!
From the cinematic magic of award-winning documentarian Kellie Mitchell and Aperture Arts Productions, Inc. comes FLYING QUEENS: A Basketball Dynasty.
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