'I Felt His Presence': Miracle Season Springs Forth from Real-Life Tragedy
Hollywood is shining the light on the power of faith with the new film, "The Miracle Season."
The film tells the story of an Iowa high school girls volleyball team which bands together after the loss of its star player, Caroline "Line" Found, with the hopes of winning the state championship.
Found was described as the heart and soul of the Iowa City West High School's girls volleyball team and her loss was devastating to the team and her father.
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."
In the end, the memory of this remarkable young life pushed the Trojans to an unexpected second championship in 2011.
Coach: 'My Job was to Help Them Heal'
"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.
Oscar Award-winning actress Helen Hunt plays Bresnahan.
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."
"The Miracle Season" opens nationwide on Friday, April 6.
"Love conquers all," Ernie said, reflecting on the lesson he learned. "And there is nothing more important in life than relationships and family."
About The Author
Efrem Graham is an award-winning journalist who came to CBN News from the ABC-owned and operated station in Toledo, Ohio. His most recent honor came as co-anchor of the newscast that earned the station’s morning news program its first Emmy Award.
Efrem was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, but his formal television and journalism career was born across the Hudson River in New York City. He began as an NBC Page and quickly landed opportunities to work behind-the-scenes in local news, network news, entertainment, and the network’s Corporate Communications Department. His work earned him the NBC Broadcast Fellowship and the DuPont Research Fellowship, which allowed him to study and receive his master's degree from the Columbia University Journalism School. He also holds a bachelor's degree in English Literature from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
Efrem moved from behind the camera when he relocated from New York City to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he juggled two full-time careers. By day, he taught journalism at Chattanooga State College. And by night, Efrem anchored and reported the news at the NBC affiliate, WRCB-TV.
While in Chattanooga, Efrem earned honors from the Tennessee Associated Press and the German Marshall Fellowship Program. The prestigious fellowship took Efrem on a month-long tour of European countries, where he studied the European Union and politics and cultures of Amsterdam, Brussels, Budapest, Lyon, and Paris. The fellowship experience fueled many of his lectures as a journalism instructor at Bowling Green State University.
Efrem is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and the National Association of Black Journalists.
Finally, and most importantly, Efrem is a loving husband to Kita. They are the proud parents of two children.
