This film traces the ascent of Cambodian American teenager Ashley Chea, a basketball prodigy whose life intensifies amid college recruitment, injury, and triumph.
Independent Lens “Home Court” is available on-demand above through 6/22/25 and on the PBS App.
Filmed over three years of Ashley’s high school career, ”Home Court” is a coming-of-age story that relays the highs and lows of her immigrant family, surmounting racial and class differences, and personal trials that include a devastating knee injury.
The film opens in Ashley’s sophomore year of high school. She shuttles between her home in a lower-income neighborhood in Los Angeles and her private school, Flintridge Prep, while traveling to youth basketball tournaments and visiting colleges around the country. Ashley’s parents work long hours at their donut shop, so her coach, Jayme Kiyomura Chan, steps in where they cannot.
With the pressure of being one of the top basketball recruits in the country, tensions rise as Ashley navigates college offers and her family’s input. Meanwhile, she grapples with the task of leading her high school team, as well as being a leader in her community and the mounting responsibility to represent her culture. The film culminates in the bittersweet moments of Ashley leaving for college with her family.