High school and college sports are in session! Student-athletes are rarin’ to go, and maybe a movie night will inspire them to greater achievements. Football, soccer, and tennis are among the sports featured at this time of year. Films centered around these sports should entertain and motivate these teams, and perhaps they can even learn a thing or two.
If you are an educator, think about why you should host a public screening of these films. Are you teaching teamwork? Technique? Are you trying to inspire your student players? Is it just a fun activity to build camaraderie? Or could it be used as a team fundraiser?
Media librarians looking to expand the sports section of their academic film collections should partner with English teachers to create literacy assignments such as reviews, essays with prompts, and similar projects.
While many of these films are comedies or have comedic aspects to them, some are quite serious, especially documentaries. Before screening these movies and documentaries with your student-athletes, you should prescreen them. You can also show portions of one or more films as motivation or even debate.
If you are a media librarian looking to expand your film collection, an educator adding to your syllabus, or an athletic coach expanding your class, consider showing these sports films and documentaries to inspire your students.
Football
Most of these films are fictional or fictionalized accounts, but there are a few documentaries sprinkled in. While many of these are from 2000 onward, there are some classics as well.
As a coach or teaching assistant, think carefully about which of these you want to introduce to your students.
There are many American films about football, which is a sport particular to the United States.
Recommendations:
Wildcats (1986) stars Goldie Hawn as an unlikely football coach
Go Tigers! (2001) goes behind the scenes at an Ohio high school
Undefeated (2011) features inner-city kids playing football
Remember the Titans (2000) is a popular film starring Denzel Washington about the Civil Rights era
Friday Night Lights (2006-11 TV series)
Horsefeathers (1932) is a zany lesson in history by the Marx Brothers
The Rivalry (2007) Michigan versus Ohio State
Knute Rockne All-American (1940) starring a young Ronald Reagan
We Are Marshall (2006) is a university drama
The Waterboy (1998) Adam Sandler's comedy
The Play That Changed College Football (2011) analysis of a remarkable play
Roll Tide/War Eagle (2011)is about a major college football rivalry
Concussion (2015) explores the not-so-pretty side of football
And a special mention for the cheerleaders, the documentary A Woman’s Work: The NFL’s Cheerleader Problem (2019) football and feminism, an uneasy alliance at best.
Soccer
While football films are mostly male-focused endeavors, soccer films are a mix of male and female. In many schools, it would be just fine to have the boys’ team watch a film about girls or women in soccer and vice versa.
Recommendations:
Pele (2021) profiles the legendary soccer star
The Game of Their Lives (2005) is about the US soccer team's victory in 1950
Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait (2006) also has a French version
Once In a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos (2006) Fans unite!
Pelada (2010) is an interesting documentary about a Brazillian team
Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001) a British film
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) is a beloved film about teen girls who deal with racial and gender inequality
The World At Their Feet (1970) a FIFA production
An Equal Playing Field (2015) is a TV film about female equality
Khartoum Offside (2019) an interesting film about women’s soccer and religious practice
Dare To Dream: The Story of the US Women’s Soccer Team (2007) profiles of top soccer women
Tennis
Films that feature tennis are less numerous than football and soccer, but there are some good choices. There are also some wonderful choices that highlight the careers of African American tennis legends.
Recommendations:
Venus and Serena (2012) are probably the most famous sisters in tennis
In the Realm of Perfection (2018) a documentary on John McEnroe
Citizen Ashe (2021) delves into the life and career of the late Arthur Ashe
Althea (2014) is about the pioneering African American tennis star
7 Days in Hell (2015) made for TV mockudrama about an infamous tennis match
2nd Serve (2012) is a quirky revenge comedy
When Billie Beat Bobby (2001) is about the infamous Billie Jean King- Bobby Riggs tennis match
Borg/McEnroe (2011) is a TV doc about a legendary tennis rivalry
Battle of the Sexes (2017) another take on the Billie-Bobby matches
King Richard (2021) a fictionalized drama about the Williams sisters
Hopefully, these will add to your student's experience as athletes. They need to see the humane (and sometimes humorous) sides of their sports.