Brendan Harty's The Mighty Oaks isn't the best sports doc you're ever going to see, though it is a good sports doc. It's the kind of sports doc that sticks with you long after the closing credits have rolled by and you're left thinking about the story that's unfolded. 

I can't say I ever expected to find myself engaged in a documentary centered around lacrosse, though The Mighty Oaks is about much more than lacrosse. It's about community and people and building something bigger and something special. Set in Morgan Hill, California, The Mighty Oaks follows the 2024 campaign of a lacrosse campaign that didn't exist before 2015. The kids we meet, boys and girls, are entering their senior seasons and we can feel a quiet sense of palpable energy and emotion as they both work to win and work to figure out what it all means. 

Don't expect melodrama here. Harty avoids it mightily. If anything, The Mighty Oaks is a surprisingly quiet film about parents, younger athletes, and their quiet moments that may or may not lead up to bigger moments. They've built something special here. We already know that. However, as this season in their lives begins to wind down it's apparent that lacrosse has represented a whole lot more than lacross. 

We get to know the players, at least their stories. Truthfully, other than founder/coach Brad Ledwith I'm pretty hard-pressed to remember any of the names. Yet, I remember their stories from one player's adoption journey to another's grief and how it drives their season's play. While most filmmakers would have played this all for histrionics and melodrama, Harty avoids such an approach in favor of simply allowing us to understand their humanity. 

The Mighty Oaks never quite wowed me, however, it continually impressed me. Ledwith is a central figure, of course, and yet he's far from the most important one here. In fact, I'm not sure there is a most important one here. Building something in The Mighty Oaks means a whole lot more than a lacross victory. It's more life-centered than that and it's worth sustaining. 

I enjoyed The Mighty Oaks from beginning to end, though at times I'll confess I wished for just a bit more emotional resonance and rhythm. I was nearly distracted a couple of times, however, these players and these coaches drew me back in and back into their relationships. The interview footage is occasionally predictable, though never boring at all.

The Mighty Oaks carries with it a quiet, honest intimacy that may never hit like a tearjerker or even a crowdpleaser in any traditional sense, but the longer I've had to rest with this film the more powerfully its story has rested within me. Picked up by Byron Allen's indie distributor Freestyle Digital Media, The Mighty Oaks is now available through most of your streaming platforms and for those searching for a meaningful sports doc it's worth checking out. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic