Content warning: This article contains mentions of abuse.
This weekend, I stumbled across a copy of Jessica Bendinger’s original script for the 2006 gymnastics classic “Stick It.” First, if you read my column and haven’t seen this movie, go watch it. While the first version of the script follows the same basic plot, the final movie tells almost a completely different story.
In the final version of the film, the main character, Haley, is portrayed as a rebellious athlete who abruptly abandoned her team during the World Championships, leaving many to believe she choked under pressure. As a result, she becomes widely disliked in the gymnastics community. However, it's not until later in the film that we learn the shocking reason behind her actions: During those World Championships, she discovered that her mother had an affair with her gymnastics coach, which tore her family apart. When Haley finally opens up about the true reason she walked out at Worlds to her new coach, it’s a raw and emotional moment of vulnerability.
In the original version, however, the other gymnasts and their parents mistakenly believe that Haley was the one sleeping with the coach, and they don't hold back from making their assumptions known. Haley snaps back at Joanne, “You were getting a lot of attention because you sucked, Joanne,” to which Joanne retorts, “If memory serves, sucking was your specialty, Bailey. Some of us didn’t need to sleep with the coach to get attention.” Haley later mocks the comments with a dirty joke while taunting Joanne, saying “I’ll probably cowboy my legs apart, but that’s what Joanne would do. And, after all, it is hard to keep my legs together after sleeping with our old coach for so long.” On top of this, Haley’s dad is physically abusive because he blames Haley for his wife’s affair.
It’s easy to see why this plotline was ultimately cut. It would have made an already mature film even more adult, and the tone didn’t quite match the rest of the script. But, reading the original script, it’s striking how much darker and more direct the references are to real-world situations. For example, a female assistant coach says, “Was that a real try or a quitter’s try?” This line is a direct reference to Donna Strauss of Parkettes Gymnastics Training Center in Pennsylvania, who is one of the most prominent coaches in the United States. The setting for Haley’s home, where she trains with coach Chris DeFrank, was probably based on a well-known gymnastics gym in the area, where rumors about the mother of a top gymnast allegedly being in a relationship with the coach circulated before the film was produced. And, the original plotline where everyone believes Haley is sleeping with her coach can be seen as a tragic reference to the allegations of real-life abuse of several gymnasts by their coach, Don Peters, during the 1980s.
There are plenty of other differences in the original script, like the inclusion of a major subplot where Mina wants to switch to trampoline and tumbling, Haley’s obsession with a Game Boy and a scene featuring rhythmic gymnasts. Plus, there’s an abundance of hilarious lines and jokes that didn’t make it into the final film, including a running gag where commentators Tim Daggett and Elfi Schlegel have to rerecord their commentary because they’re so stunned by what’s unfolding.
I had originally planned to highlight the fun aspects of the movie for this column, but I was mostly taken aback by just how much darker the original plot was, especially for a film that was already pretty edgy. Still, I highly recommend reading the full script — it’s definitely worth it, if only for Haley’s coach calling her “Exxon” for the whole film after she says, “My toes drill oil.”
