From Weed to Wins, Coach Snoop Does It All

Coach Snoop is a Netflix original series that focuses on the trial and error of the Snoop Youth Football League. While the beat slingling, pot smoking, national icon is wild on camera, when around the kids, he tones it down. He acts similar to that of just about any other prideful coach you would find. He loves and cares for these kids, just like a father. The reason the Snoop Youth Football League was created, was to keep inner city California kids off the street and out of gangs. The series has you meet past SYFL stars that are making it to professional football. The series is very influential and real. Every episode had tension and a lesson to be learned.

The biggest thing that stood out to me while viewing the series was the attachment and relationship that Snoop Dogg had with these kids. For example, there was an instance where Snoop noticed a kid acting unlike himself. Snoop confronted the kid on a personal basis to figure out the problem. The kid went on to explain that his mother was having trouble paying rent that month. Snoop took this as an opportunity to use his wealth as a way to help people. To get his player back in the game, he told the kid to tell his mother that he will take care of the next six months of rent. This just shows how much Snoop cares about the livelihood of the kids he coaches. This definitely provokes emotion in the viewers, and creates an attachment with the show, which caused binging on my part.

Snoop Dogg uses more profanity on the field, than I do when I step on a Lego. I really enjoy that the show includes this in airing. There are two reasons why I am a fan of this. For one, my football coach acted no different. This is exactly how coaches act, and I am glad that they included the realism of the sport. The second reason, is that it adds comedic relief. I find it funny when Snoop goes off on a kid. But, Snoop only uses profanity as a use of language, not to tear one down. Snoop wouldn’t persay use profanity to punish the kid, but as a way of motivation. He uses profanity to get the kids fired up, and ready to do work on the field.

Every episode, Snoop narrates a small clip about his early life, and what got him interested in playing football. I enjoy learning more about Snoop, because I have enjoyed his music for many years now. I knew previously that he played football, and about the league, but this shows the great detail of the subject. It is interesting how Snoop got involved with football, and his desire to coach others to keep out of trouble. The show does state, that they have had some members end up in prison, but the turnout rate is good. The influence this league has on the kids is tremendous to me.

Coach Snoop will leave you in tears, from the emotion put into the care of these kids. The show will also make you laugh like never before. The emotions provoked by this show, will force anyone to continue watching. I would recommend this show to nearly anyone, as it reaches to a wide variety of audience. Coach Snoop is a show that I am glad I watched, it is a show that I will not forget. 

Thoughts on Setting and Snoop

In the Netflix Original Coach Snoop, famous rapper Snoop Dogg coaches a youth football league for kids in underprivileged areas. He says in the beginning of the sports docuseries how he wants to be a mentor, and almost a father figure to struggling kids with single parents or kids that isolate themselves and end up with the wrong crowd. A little further into the first episode, Snoop says the reason he takes the league to out of state games is to show the players how much bigger the world is than their four blocks.
The episode opens with a black and white flashback scene from Snoop’s past run in with a drive by shooting. We can see dilapidated floor boards on the porch, worn fences, and front and center- a gun. So it’s a bad part of town. But we can see that these are all just kids being shot at and having to decide to shoot back. This is not the environment they should be in, or anyone for that matter, and that is the basis for Snoop’s Youth Football League (SYFL). 
 From there on,  it can be immediately seen how important the different settings are going to be. There are close-up scenes of dirty shoes laying in the road and slow motion shots over graffiti, all with Snoop’s voice overlayed talking about the life he wants to keep kids away from. So it can be inferred these signs are more than just a sign of uncleanliness, rather symbols for a life lived among drugs, dealing, and gangs. But when they travel out of state, like to Seattle in the first episode, we see those same close-ups and slow motions over city lights and clean, modern skyscrapers. These scenes are suppose to symbolize how important it is for at-risk kids to make it out of their poor environments and towards a more successful life.
While we can see stark differences when the team is playing in the bad parts of LA versus the uptown part of Seattle, the one place where setting is ambiguous is on the field. For every scene that is focused solely on the player’s point of view from the field, not including the stands, it is impossible to tell what state they are in. And for someone analyzing the show as a whole, that fact gets Snoop’s message across more than anything. It doesn’t matter where the kids are at, as long as they aren’t on the streets running drugs at the time being and have a hope to make it out of there one day. 
Without the strong emphasis on setting in this docuseries, the message wouldn’t have the same effect. Just simply stating that you don’t want the kids in your community on the streets isn’t enough. You have to see the streets and see the behavior that the area enables, and then see what the better alternative is. Children should not ever be placed a situation that would require a gun at any moment, and once you see that with your own eyes you can further appreciate the effort to turn that around. 

Coaching Kids Off the Streets

This week I watched the Netflix Original Coach Snoop, a documentary series featuring Calvin Broadus (also known as his famous personality Snoop Dogg). The show follows Snoop Dogg as he owns and coaches a youth football league for kids and teens living in urban Los Angeles. Snoop’s mission is to provide a safe and fun alternative pastime for kids and teens living in impoverished and crime ridden neighborhoods; if the kids are playing organized football after school, they cannot be in trouble or involved with local gangs.

In the pilot episode, Snoop Dogg declares that helping kids to avoid being involved with drugs or violence is a passion of his due to his own personal history with gangs. Specifically, he cares about the kids whose parents are actively or formerly involved with gangs. The parents and Snoop work together to keep the kids and teenagers safe from the violent neighborhoods. Additionally, while Snoop Dogg is known for frequently smoking marijuana and living the stereotypical “rapper lifestyle”, he makes a clear distinction between Snoop-The-Rapper and Coach Snoop. Snoop does not bring drugs or alcohol near the kids, nor does he talk about those substances. When Snoop is engaged with the kids, he loses his rapper alter ego and becomes a protector and supporter of his football players.

I highly enjoyed watching this show as it caught my attention in the beginning and held it throughout each episode. Firstly, the prospect of watching Snoop Dogg on television is probably enough to intrigue anyone under the age of thirty enough to watch at least one episode. Snoop Dogg is quite an interesting and even comedic character in his rapper life; he brings these elements and others into his role as a football coach for the young men in Los Angeles. Secondly, the show is heartwarming; Snoop’s relationships with the kids grow as he spends more time with them and as he continues to encourage, challenge, and support them. 

I also liked this show for its format. Coach Snoop is a documentary and therefore relies heavily on interviews and direct address. While Snoop Dogg receives a majority of the screen time, I appreciate when one of the kids or one of the kids’ parents gives a testimonial. When the kids give interviews, they reveal what they are thinking and occasionally give background on events that have happened in their lives as a result of where they live. Further, I believe the interviews with the parents validate Snoop’s mission and add depth to the episodes. Some of the parents are in gangs or were previously associated with gangs, and therefore their children are in added danger of becoming involved with crime or violence. By having the parents explain their unfortunate situations in private interviews, they legitimize the purpose of the football team: to keep the kids safe and off the streets. Additionally, each episode has a run time of less than thirty minutes, which makes it easier and more fun to watch. I enjoy shows with shorter episodes for with each new episode comes a new sub-plot or interesting event, making the overall show seem more diverse and exciting.

            While I watched this show on a whim since my older brother turned it on, I will likely continue watching the rest of the season. This show is entertaining while also promoting the noble cause of helping children in less fortunate situations.