COEUR d'ALENE - Sure, coach Raul Lara likes to win.

He's done plenty of that on the football field.

But more important, he has taught his players how to excel beyond the gridiron, too.

"For me, with football, it's to teach these guys life skills as much as possible so they can prepare themselves when they do leave Poly," he said. "That's really our primary goal."

"But if you take care of that first part, and kids understand you really care for them, the winning comes easy," he said.

Lara, in his 21st year of coaching at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, and his team are the subject of a new docu-series from Current TV chronicling its 2010 football season.

The 45-year-old is considered one of the country's top high school coaches and Long Beach Poly, one of the nation's top teams, with 100 wins in nine seasons. Poly's program "boasts the largest roster of high school players who have gone on to the NFL."

He was in Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday for a premier screening of "4th and Forever" sponsored by Current and Time Warner Cable at Regal Cinemas at Riverstone.

About 100 teens and a handful of adults watched two episodes, then got a chance to talk with Lara afterward.

Carol Malcolm of Hayden loved what she heard and saw. She said Lara makes it clear all players will get an equal opportunity on the field, and it's not just about scoring the most points.

It's also about giving the game - and life - your best.

"I wish all of the high school kids could come and see it," she said.

The idea for the reality TV show came about when the LA Times wrote a story about Lara as a probation officer and as a coach of a top national football team.

Later, networks approached Lara with offers of a documentary.

He declined.

"I'm not that type of person where I want all the focus to be me," he said.

So Lara asked if they would consider covering the school and its programs. Most said no thanks, but Current came back with another offer: What about a reality show on the Lara and his football team on the 2010 season as they try to bounce back from a down year in 2009.

He agreed.

Now in his 11th season as Poly head coach, Lara liked the first two episodes aired Wednesday.

"What I wanted to portray is us coaches, what we struggle with, with our kids, that we are trying to help our kids be successful in the future," he said. "I think it does that."

According to realtv.net, "4th and Forever" will air Sunday nights.

It is comprised of nine 30-minute episodes shot on location in Long Beach, Calif., and throughout Southern California "and will explore how the team is a point of pride for a community that struggles with poverty, drugs, and gangs."

Long Beach Poly started spring practices last week with around 100 players. The stocky Lara, with neatly combed black hair, said the best players will play, "no ifs or buts. It's like any other sport."

So how good will the team be this year?

"I tell people, on paper we look good. Until we do it on Friday night, we'll find out," the Lakewood, Calif., man said, smiling.

What keeps him coming back, year after year, is the chance to watch the kids grow, how they mature from coming in as uncertain freshman and leaving as confident seniors. Not just regarding their football talents, but their academic and social skills as well.

"We're teaching them stuff to be successful off the field," he said.

Hayden resident Dan Malcolm, like his wife, enjoyed "4th and Forever." It successfully shares the message that football is more than a game.

"It's life," Malcolm said.

A referee of more than 40 years, he sometimes gives talks about the game of high school football.

"What happens in the first three hours is like life exploding. Same thing with the season," Malcolm said. "It's life exploding. It all happens. The emotions, the highs, the lows, the intensity of hard work. All of that stuff. I think this portrays a good amount of that just like it is."