Heartwell Park On the Silver Screen

In the summer of 2015, a stretch of Heartwell Park between the duck pond and flood control channel was mired in controversy. It came down to an issue of usage. With baseball and soccer fields available east of Bellflower Boulevard, the park west of Bellflower was planned as passive.

Regardless, volleyball games and an organized team of female football players ran drills in full uniform. Residents in the area witnessed groups of soccer players setting up their games. Other than parking challenges, the issue was repeated usage which caused brown areas where grass had been planted. For a short period, the Fifth District councilwoman and even the police were involved.

Meant as a solution, in front of a dozen or so curious strollers and neighbors, on July 30, at the cost of $1,000, the Parks Department delivered 16 boulders to the site of the most used impromptu soccer field. Within a few days, many of these boulders were moved off the field by soccer players or tossed to the bottom of the duck pond. Six of the original dozen remained.

Obviously, this was not a solution as the soccer games continued apace. In early 2023, the area was once again transformed from passive for a new sport, well, sort of.

All-star youth football came to this same part of Heartwell Park on January 18. That’s when important exterior scenes of the MGM Snoop Dogg sports comedy “The Underdoggs” was filmed on an impromptu football field with a graffiti-laden wall and snack bar, which lent atmospherics.

The plot line of “The Underdoggs” is straight-forward, likely making it a character-driven film. Snoop plays Jaycen Jenning, “2J’s”, a former NFL superstar who, after a run in with the law, agrees to coach a youth football team in lieu of prison in the hopes of relaunching his fledgling career. Co-stars include Tika Sumpter, Mike Epps, Andrew Schulz and George Lopez with a whole team of kid actors.

Production is underway for an Oct. 20, 2023 theatrical release.