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Genre/Form: | Biographies Biography |
---|---|
Named Person: | Hobert Sherwood Billingsley; Hobert Sherwood Billingsley |
Material Type: | Videorecording |
Document Type: | Visual material |
All Authors / Contributors: |
Steven Montgomery; Barbara Wolverton; Tony Cucchiari; Randy Courts |
OCLC Number: | 70922201 |
Notes: | Originally released as a motion picture in 1980. DVD features: Updates on the divers 25 years after the making of Hobie's heroes; 1996 Atlanta Olympics ceremony featuring Hobie Billingsley; filmmaker Steven Montgomery interviewed by John Badham; film crew scrapbook and awards. |
Performer(s): | Editor, Barbara Wolver ; director of photography, Tony Cucchiari ; original music, Randall Courts. |
Description: | 1 videodisc (29 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. |
Details: | DVD. |
Responsibility: | produced and directed by Steven Montgomery. |
Abstract:
Reviews
Educational Media Reviews Online (1)
Hobie’s Heroes

Successful coaches have the talent to motivate and develop skills in athletes. Billingsley illustrates that talent by taking young divers, gaining their confidence, giving them the desire to find courage in the face of a challenge, and bringing out talent and skills they may not even know they have.
Looking down at a pool from three stories high knowing that any misstep could result in either pain or injury, can create fear in anyone. Hobie, with toughness and humor is able to motivate his athletes to overcome that fear, to reach deep down inside and rise to that higher level of performance, and execute beautiful dives.
When I first viewed this film I could identify with the divers. As I looked over the edge of the high platform down at the pool, it seemed a hundred feet away. I too felt that fear, that fear of pain, injury or humiliation in front of others. I could feel what the film was trying to convey—how coach Billingsley takes fear and turns it around into a personal triumph by raising the feeling of confidence. The film portrays Hobie as a real person with his own personal conflicts, which he is able to overcome and use as a teaching strategy with his divers. He uses humor and toughness to strive for continued improvement of their skills.
The audio and video quality is extremely realistic, giving one the feeling of actually being poolside and showing the human emotions of kids going through failures and success.
This film would be a welcome addition to any high school or college library especially at those schools with diving teams. It will also benefit institutions with sports psychology and training courses. I highly recommend this film.
WorldCat User Reviews (1)
Excerpt from Video Librarian review, July/August 2006
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Recommended for optional purchase by high schools, colleges, universities, and public libraries<font color="#000000"> Hobie's Heroes: The 25th Anniversary Edition
(1980) 29 min. DVD: $14.95 ($175 w/PPR). Steven Montgomery. Color cover.
During Hobie Billingsley’s tenure as Indiana University's diving coach (1959-1989), he acquired a reputation for spotting talent, and produced six Olympic medalists. In the summers, Billingsley and his staff would host diving clinics for kids aged 12 to 17, including director Steven Montgomery, who returned to Indiana in 1980 to make this short documentary on Billingsley’s work with kids. With few digressions on the boys’ and girls’ personal or family lives, Hobie’s Heroes combines diving footage with an interview of Billingsley (who uses a form of tough love to challenge the kids, with the goal of helping them overcome fear and self-doubt). Interestingly, the documentary makes the point that the best coaches are often those who weren't the most gifted athletes, but in overcoming obstacles learned something about how to motivate athletes. DVD extras include an update on the kids featured, in which they validate how important Billingsley's emphasis on training and discipline have been to their lives and careers.
“Interestingly, the documentary makes the point that the best coaches are often those who weren’t the most gifted athletes, but in overcoming obstacles learned something about how to motivate athletes. DVD extras include an update on the kids featured, in which they validate how important Billingsley’s emphasis on training and discipline have been to their lives and careers.”
(Recommended for optional purchase by high schools, colleges, universities, and public libraries)
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- diving (by 1 person)
- hobie billingsley (by 1 person)
- olympics (by 1 person)
- steven montgomery (by 1 person)
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