"A children's football team, racial integration, the early 60's, sounds a good recipe for a movie."

A children's football team, racial integration, the early 60's, sounds like a good recipe for a Disney movie. Perhaps this was the hidden intention of screenwriter Scott Staerkel's first novel WHEN THE WHISTLE BLOWS.

In a novel set in an American Midwest City in 1964 the author tackles the topic of racism. The idea of having fifth and sixth grade African American kids playing football on the same team as the white kids was not good news for the white folks.

However, what do you do when you are supposed to field a football team with eighteen players and only fifteen show up to try out? The only place to find the other three kids is on the other side of the tracks where the African American kids hang out. There's the problem. How do you convince some of the red neck parents, as well as your union sponsors, that you will have to recruit these kids if the team is to qualify?

Will coach Bill Campbell decide to take the plunge and convince the African American kids to join, even if he meets up with blatant racism? Once he does overcome this hurdle, how does he face the hate letters he receives or the stalking of one of his key African American players?

As the story unfolds, Campbell's team, named the United Oil Workers Union Oilers overcomes all of these challenges. They win all of their games and finally succeed in meeting the previous years champions, the McKinley Knights, in the final showdown.

Writing a novel is different than writing a screenplay, and although it may seem to be an easy transition, such is not the case. The novel allows for deeper story and character development, and herein we notice the weakness of Staerkel's first novel. Unfortunately, the plot is predictable and the characters lack development. I have to admit it is not an easy task to achieve the grace and artistry that are the hallmarks of great novelists. However, I do hope Staerkel keeps on plodding away, as he is a good storyteller and shows a lot of promise as a novelist.

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Posted November 7, 2002