“Toe to Toe” is a light-hearted comedy about the hardships of being transferred to a new school, mid-school year. Our story begins with David, a scrawny 5’6”, 140 pounder sitting across the gym from the high school Golden Glove boxer, Tyrone Justice. While sitting across from Tyrone, David recalls how he ended up in this predicament. Moving from Boone, Iowa, population 5,000, to Long Beach, California, population 500,000, David finds himself in a different world divided by sub-groups or “cliques”. After being slammed into the lockers by the jocks while approaching the high school sweetheart, Angela, David learns that in order to exist in this high school, he must join a clique. With the help of quirky Counselor Woods and his infamous “Book of Cliques”, David attempts to join a diverse variety of cliques including the Asian Imports, Metrosexuals, and the Wizard Card Club. When David fails to connect with a clique, he finds himself sitting the hallway with the high school loner. While sitting with the loner, David spots a group that he has not yet approached. This is the Boxing clique, a clique feared by the whole school. When David notices that even the jocks fear the boxers, he realizes that this is his last chance to gain the school’s respect. Crossing the tracks from middle-class West Long Beach, into the poverty stricken East Long Beach, David arrives at the doorway of an all-Black boxing gym. Though David is greeted with laughs and taunting, he is determined to gain the boxers’ respect. Receiving pity from the gym’s water boy, Bobby, David learns that in order to gain respect from this clique, he must gain Tyrone’s. After getting pushed down by a group of boxers, David finds himself challenging Tyrone to a boxing match, which leads him back to his present predicament. With the whole school watching, will David have what it takes to go… “Toe to Toe”?