Producer Adam Abel and director Ryan Little of Go Films, along with actors and a film crew, spent several days at SHS filming scenes for their latest project, a movie called “Forever Strong.” Scenes were shot both on the football field and in the school’s parking lot.

“We have some great pivotal scenes” that were shot at Springville High, Abel said, adding that some of the film’s climactic scenes were being filmed at the school. “Forever Strong” is expected to have a nationwide release in late 2007.

“Forever Strong” tells the story of Rick Penning, a Flagstaff, Arizona, rugby player who, due to substance abuse problems, is sentenced to live at a boy’s home located in Salt Lake City. After Rick arrives in Utah, his social worker arranges for him to play for the Highland Rugby team, a rival to his high school team back home.

“It deals basically with being a champion at life, not just a champion rugby player,” said Ashley Smart, publicist for “Forever Strong.” The project will be a good, family-oriented film, she said.

Springville High’s field was serving as the Flagstaff field for the movie. SHS was chosen as a location because the field looked good and had a great grandstand, Abel said.

Filming of “Forever Strong” was scheduled to take 40 days. The project also includes filming at Provo and Salt Lake City locations.

The story is based on the real-life Highland Rugby team, which was formed 31 years ago by Larry Gelwix. A club team, Highland is mainly made up of students from Highland High School in Salt Lake City, with some players coming from other schools as well. The team has seen amazing success since its beginning, with an overall record of 348 wins and nine losses.

Under Coach Gelwix’s leadership, Highland Rugby has won 16 of the 22 national championship rugby tournaments sponsored by USA Rugby for high school teams. In 1998, the team took third place in a world rugby tournament for high school teams that was held in Zimbabwe.

Gelwix still coaches the team and was at SHS last week acting as a technical consultant for “Forever Strong.” Gelwix is well-known for his travel shows and tips on local radio and television shows. He currently appears as the Getaway Guru on 570 KNRS AM radio’s The Travel Show on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. He works as CEO of Columbus Travel in Bountiful.

“It’s very surreal. It’s just hard to believe,” Gelwix said about having a movie made about Highland Rugby. “To me, it’s a legacy to the team.”

He attributed the team’s success to members learning the connection between commitment, sacrifice and hard work. “Nobody outworks us, nobody outcoaches us, nobody outprepares us,” Gelwix said.

The story of Rick Penning is based on an actual person that played for Highland Rugby, Gelwix said. The producers of the film met with team alumni and parents and collected stories about Highland; other characters in the film are based on those stories, he said.

“They wove 31 years of stories into a single season,” Gelwix said.

Abel said he and Little chose to do a film about Highland Rugby because they like presenting true stories. “If there’s anything we can become passionate about, we feel like we can tell a good story about it,” Abel said.

SHS Assistant Principal Reese Brunson said his school’s football team, cheerleaders and band had been very supportive of the film project and used other facilities at SHS for practice while the football field was occupied. “Our football coaches have been extremely helpful in allowing them to use their football field while they’re in preparation for the football season,” Brunson said.

Perhaps the oddest part of the filming was the crowd of inflatable people set up in the SHS grandstands. These figures looked convincingly real from a distance. Abel said 500 of the figures had been rented for the film, a technique often used for movies with scenes requiring many spectators.

Starring in “Forever Strong” are Gary Cole (“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” “The West Wing”) and Sean Faris (“Reunion,” “Yours, Mine and Ours”). Other cast members include Neal McDonough (“Minority Report”), Nathan West (“Miracle”), Max Kasch (“Holes”), Penn Badgley (“John Tucker Must Die”) and Arielle Kebbel (“John Tucker Must Die”).

This story appeared in The Springville Herald on page A1.