The film tells the story of an ordinary guy Anton Kandidov. First he works on agricultural work — transports on boat on Volga watermelons. Noticing how deftly Anton catches and loads watermelons, he is told that he could become a goalkeeper and play football. And he decides to follow the advice. On the way to the glory of the goalkeeper and waiting for his victory and disappointment.
Arkasha Pryakhin, the son of a cook, is accepted by the "ladies' committee" as a free pupil at the gymnasium. Treasury discipline, reigning in this educational institution, methodically kills in students a genuine love of knowledge. Gymnasium students, resisting the soulless school system, invent all sorts of pranks, sometimes very evil. Once, when Arkady refused to name the perpetrator of the mischief, he was expelled from the gymnasium.
