A washed-up Olympic figure skater whose life is unravelling finds a last chance at redemption when she joins a women's amateur ice hockey team.

SYNOPSIS:

SUMMARY: ROSEMARY GRANT (34) is an ex-champion Olympic figure skater who is paying for the biggest mistake of her life. After an indiscreet love affair she has been divorced by her lawyer husband MALCOLM (38) and lost custody of her son JACK (12). Rosemary’s tenuous relationship with Jack is further strained by Malcolm’s new fiancée, the vindictive and self-centred NATALIE (24). Natalie wants to see Rosemary out of her happy little domestic picture and emotionally manipulates Jack against his mother at every opportunity.

To make ends meet, Rosemary has to take a job teaching figure-skating at a run-down ice rink, where she finds herself butting heads with the surly owner TONY (48). At her lowest ebb, Rosemary meets MARCY (20), a ditzy waitress who works at the rink, who introduces her to the Skate-Together Club where singles and divorcees can socialize and skate together. The members of the club are an eclectic bunch dealing with relationship issues of their own – Marcy, GWEN, ELIOT, RED, GERTIE and the lone male club member, JERRY – but they are a friendly group and welcome Rosemary as one of their own. During a difficult visit with Jack, Rosemary learns he is keen on ice hockey. Eager for his approval she lies and tells him she is part of a women’s ice hockey team and invites him to watch one of their practice sessions. Frightened of Jack catching her out she explains the situation to her new friends who agree to help her out by holding a mock hockey practice session just for Jack. After all, how hard can playing ice hockey be?

The day arrives for Jack to watch Rosemary’s mock team, now christened the Battersea Angels, take to the ice but they discover the rink is already being used by a professional women’s ice hockey team – the hard-nosed Chelsea Wolves. Rosemary argues with the Wolves’ captain DEBORAH PITT, who decides to have some fun at the Angels expense. Deborah challenges Rosemary to a friendly 20-minuter and if the Angels win they get the rink. The game starts and the Wolves play rough and dirty, the match devolving into a free-for-all punch-up with the game ending in a draw. Furious at being shown up, Deborah demands a re-match and goaded on by both Tony and Jack, Rosemary and the Angels reluctantly agree to the grudge match. The date is set: one month’s time.

Rosemary enlists the aid of NICOLA GORDON, an ex-pro NHL ice hockey player who has a bad history with Deborah, to teach them how to play ice hockey properly. To their surprise all the women find they have natural aptitudes for the sport. As social media interest raises the Angels to near-celebrity status, the women bond over their shared love of the ice, each of them revealing their respective backstories that first lead them to the Skate Together Club. The media attention also brings Malcolm back into Rosemary’s life, much to Natalie’s chagrin. When she realises Malcolm still has feelings for Rosemary she maliciously books a family holiday that will clash with the day of the grudge match. She gives Malcolm and Jack an ultimatum – it’s her or Rosemary.

When Rosemary discovers Natalie’s ploy her spirit is crushed. In the grudge match, the Angels are brutally mauled by the Wolves, but rally and even the score in the final third. To save a humiliating defeat Deborah tosses the puck into the audience to end the game, only to see it fly back onto the ice. Rosemary sees who threw it back – it is a beaming Jack, held aloft on Malcolm’s shoulders. Energised, the Angels play out time and Rosemary scores the winning goal right on the buzzer. Malcolm and Jack scramble through the cheering crowd to reach Rosemary, where the family are reunited. There is still mending to do, but Rosemary is blissfully happy to be where she is. For now.

©2020 Ian David Diaz

Tel: +44(0)2077380580

Email: iandiaztkz@yahoo.co.uk