Sports movies are almost always inspirational. But add a new entry to the list.
The Miracle Season, may be the most inspirational yet, as it tells the true story of a high school volleyball team moving on after the tragic death of their leader, Caroline Found. But the tale of the real Caroline Found from The Miracle Season is somehow even more amazing than the film.
The movie stars Helen Hunt as Kathy Bresnahan:
Coach of the Iowa City West High women’s volleyball team, and is based on the book of the same name by Bresnahan. Under Bresnahan, the team won the state title in 2010 behind the strong play of their team captain, Caroline “Line” Found, stated before the 2011 season that the team would repeat as state champs, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen. http://www.thegazette.com/
As for those who had the pleasure of knowing Liner, creating the film was about capturing her exuberance and zest for life. How she led by example and took nothing or no one for granted. “[Line] made everyone feel like they were needed and loved. She made you feel like you were the most important person in the world,” recalls Bresnahan.
Following Line’s death, friends and teammates adopted the motto, “Live like Line” to honor her abundant life. These three words, which were printed on T-shirts, and bracelets provided the hope and motivation for those grieving Line’s death. It served as a rallying cry to never give up.
Star Player’s Death Devastates Team 🙁
Caroline died in a bike accident on her way home from church, making it a painful and trying season for her teammates.
CBN News sat down with Caroline’s father and volleyball coach ahead of the film’s release.
Kathy Bresnahan, Caroline’s coach, told us, “She was larger than that in life. She really was. I mean every 20 years or so, as a teacher, or every decade you find that one really special unique person, and that was Caroline. None of it is exaggerated. She was that special of a kid.” “My job as a coach was to help them through. That was it. Whether we stepped on the court in a uniform again, my job was to help them heal. And so that is how we approached each day. It was hard,” Bresnahan recalled.
Found (9), who averaged 10.0 assists per game for West’s 2010 Class 4A state-championship squad, earned honorable-mention all-state honors. In the end, the memory of this remarkable young life pushed the Trojans to an unexpected second championship in 2011.
Without their leader and star player, the team struggled mightily early in the season before rallying around the memory of their fallen teammate, ultimately triumphing unexpectedly and winning the state title again in 2011 — just like Line said they would.
So now that you know the incredible real life story behind the film, what is there to know about the young woman who inspired it all? “What I remember the most about Caroline was her smile … her smile and her laugh,” Caroline’s father Ernie Found said, according to The Gazette of Cedar Rapids, IA. “Caroline could make light of something despite of how serious it might be at the moment in order to make everybody feel better.”
Ernie: ‘I Felt God’s Presence’ Despite Multiple Losses
Caroline’s father, Ernie Found, not only suffers the loss of his daughter to tragedy, but he also loses his wife to pancreatic cancer not long after Caroline’s untimely death.
At one point in the film, Ernie’s character says, “God hasn’t exactly shown up for me.” Found told CBN News that line, “was Hollywood.”
He continued, “That was a script. That was never something that entered my mind, because I felt His presence in a variety of ways.”
Bresnahan interjected, telling a story about the night of Ernie’s wife’s visitation, “I am saying ‘I am so sorry Ernie’. And he says, ‘Brez, my life has been blessed.’ So, he felt God was there the whole way. He never wavered from that.”
“There was no chance of forfeiting the season [after Line passed]. That would have been disrespectful to Caroline even to consider the notion of not having a season,” Bresnahan says. Ernie Found (portrayed by William Hurt in the film), Line’s father, tearfully recalled her birth on Father’s Day as his fondest memory of his daughter. But it’s the way that she inspired everyone around her that makes him proudest. “All she ever wanted to do was put a smile on someone else’s face,” Found says.
The film closes with Line’s best friend Kelly Fliehler (Erin Moriarty) discovering her own self-worth as she steps up as a team leader. Eventually, Fliehler lead the squad to their second straight title, which they dedicated to Line. Bresnahan is optimistic the “The Miracle Season” will inspire young audiences to “Live Like Line” in their everyday lives. “Embrace each other because when you have the power of a group, we are so much stronger than we are as individuals,” says Bresnahan.
Hunt agrees, adding, “circling up with other women is how I survived some of my most difficult times. There’s power in sisterhood.
Found was also an inspiration to her peers, showing wisdom beyond her years. “Simply, Caroline has inspired me to be a better person. She taught me to love a little harder, laugh a little more, and not to fret the small stuff,” Found’s former teammate and friend, Ally Disterhoft, told The Gazette. “I think her story has inspired hundreds of other people as well, and that is truly amazing. I am a better person today because I knew Caroline. To know her was to love her, I feel really blessed to have had the opportunity to do both.”
Found was born June 19, 1994 in Iowa City, and she passed away on Aug. 11, 2011. According to her obituary from Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service, “Caroline’s her greatest pleasures were the people she met and the relationships she grew.” Her obituary also states that, in addition to her widely-known skills on the volleyball court, “Caroline had a bounty of amazing gifts, chief of which was her ability to make others smile. She lit up the world with her enthusiasm, her vibrant spirit made her a friend to everyone.”
An ESPN profile of Found by Walter Villa also sheds more light on the type of outgoing and fun-loving person Found was, stating that she “was a compassionate classmate who wouldn’t let a shy kid eat lunch alone. She was a mischievous student who once ordered pizza while serving detention for a minor infraction. She was a gregarious girl who made friends — even of opposing players — everywhere she went.”
Given how friendly, loving, and caring Caroline Found was, it’s no wonder that even after her death she was still able to inspire her old team to rise up against all odds and become champions in her memory.
Live Like Line:
Caroline Found was more than just a volleyball star. She was a compassionate classmate who wouldn’t let a shy kid eat lunch alone. She was also a mischievous student who once ordered pizza while serving detention for a minor infraction. She was a gregarious girl who made friends — even of opposing players — everywhere she went.
“Half the time, I couldn’t find her for pregame warm-ups because she was talking with the girls on the other team,” said Iowa City West High volleyball coach Kathy Bresnahan. “She was irreverent, funny and spontaneous. She was in with the popular crowd, and yet she embraced everyone.”
Caroline Slocum Found (1994-2011)
A 5-foot-10 setter, Found led West to its first state title in 2010 and was eager to repeat as a senior in 2011. But around 9:40 p.m. on Aug. 11, the 17-year-old was riding a moped home from a church youth meeting when she struck a curb and lost control. Found, who was not wearing a helmet, crashed into a tree and was killed upon impact, police said. “It still doesn’t seem real,” said Hannah Infelt, a senior middle blocker at West. “I’m still waiting for her to pop out and say it was a prank.”
Current and former players struggled with their emotions in the wake of the tragedy. West graduate Alli O’Deen, a freshman outside hitter for the University of Iowa, said she “fell to the ground and lost it” when she heard the news about her former teammate.
Two players called Bresnahan at 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 12 to break the news, and the coach says her phone rang nonstop for the next several hours. By 7 a.m., the team had gathered for practice — only to find several hundred West students also sobbing on the court in a darkened gym. Bresnahan invited them to share their favorite memories of their friend. Then they wrote letters to Found, which Bresnahan has kept in a sealed box.
“I just wrote ‘I love you’ over and over,” Infelt said. Later that morning, 100 of Found’s friends walked hand-in-hand to the crash site. They hung a No. 9 jersey — Found’s now-retired number — in the tree she struck, laid flowers and prayed. At the next day’s practice, the girls couldn’t jog more than half a lap before falling to the floor in tears. “The little time we practiced was spent ball-handling and not on any in-system plays,” Bresnahan said. “We didn’t want more reminders that we didn’t have our setter running the show.”
Four days after the accident, thousands attended the visitation for Found inside the West High gym, including several rival teams and the entire University of Iowa volleyball squad. Tragedy struck again when Ellyn Found — Caroline’s mother — died on Aug. 23. Ellyn, who had been suffering from pancreatic cancer since April, was 55. was survived by her husband, Ernie, son Gregg, 25, and daughter Catharine, 22.
Infelt said she and her teammates tried to support the Found family as best they could. “But it was like they were giving us support,” Infelt said.
Ernie Found, whose voice still breaks when he speaks about Caroline and Ellyn, said he was happy to help because “running away from the situation wasn’t going to do any good.” He notes that Caroline shared many of her best qualities with her mother. “She was able to inspire people and bring them together,” said Ernie.
The West players were touched by the love shown by rival teams. Opponents wore bracelets or shirts that read “Live Like Line,” a nod to Found’s nickname. A ritual developed in which the West players placed Found’s shoes under an otherwise empty chair.
Senior Kelley Fliehler was made the setter. Three days before the crash, Found had moved into Fliehler’s house so she could be closer to the hospital where her mother was being treated. “I was prepared to be strong for her when her mom passed away,” Fliehler said. “But I never expected anything to happen to Caroline.”
Then again, little of what happened this past season was expected. Despite missing their star setter and spiritual leader, the Women of Troy battled all the way to the state final on Nov. 12, where they faced another significant challenge in rival Iowa City High.
At the trophy ceremony, West players held up a portrait of Found. Fittingly, the song that played over the loudspeaker was “Sweet Caroline.”
“That was the perfect way to end the season, because she loved that song,” Fliehler said. “Winning state a second straight year made her dream come true. We did it for her. We felt like she was still with us.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?
