Sunday Money

It's 1971, but for Claire Joyce and girls' basketball, it might as well be 1871. Stilted rules (three-bounce dribbling, two roving players for full-court games, and uniforms that include bloomers) set their play unfairly apart from the boys' basketball Claire's brother John has trained her to play.

Basketball is the only constant in Claire's life as she enters her teen years. The skills she's cultivated on the court -- passing, shooting, faking -- help her guard against the chaos of an alcoholic mother, an increasingly violent younger brother, and the downward spiral her beloved John soon finds himself unable to climb out of.

Deeply cut from the cloth of the Catholic Church, Brooklyn's working class, and the limited expectations her world has for girls, Claire strives to find a mirror that might reflect a different, future self. When Title IX bounces on the scene, suddenly girls' basketball becomes explosive, musical, passionate, and driven. And if Claire plays it just right, it just might offer a full ride to a previously "out-of-reach" college.

SUNDAY MONEY follows Claire as she navigates her way through 1970s Brooklyn, hustling on and off the court, and striving to break free of the turmoil in her home and the rulebook "good" girls are supposed to follow.

©2024 Maggie Hill (P)2024 Maggie Hill