I’m always looking for story ideas in the media and this story is a great one. If you don’t think it could be the basis for an amazing sports movie, go back and read it again. Great characters and complex relationships.
As an exercise:
If your character was an athlete who would his or her coach be, and what would the relationship be like? More Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant or Spencer Tracy/Kate Hepburn? By taking the time to decide what sort of relationship exists between your mentor and mentee, you’ll learn a lot about the direction of your story.
