The first film that will be broadcast from ESPN Films’ Nine for IX series – inspired by the 40th anniversary of Title IX (a 1972 education amendment, also known as the Equal Opportunity in Education Act, which states, in part, that… no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance).

ESPN Films will air a series of nine documentaries under the label, starting this summer, highlighting women in sports – all films directed by women filmmakers. 

ESPN is kicking off the series today, June 18, with the award-winning documentary short Coach, produced by Whoopi Goldberg, which centers on Vivian Stringer, the prolific college basketball coach, who was the first to lead three different schools to the NCAA Final Four (Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Iowa and Rutgers) and received the highest honor of all in 2009 – a place alongside Michael Jordan, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan and David Robinson as an inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame. 

Coach is directed by Bess Kargman.

Watch the 17-minute film below, in full: