I think you meant The Next Karate Kid. You did, thankfully, leave out the Cheerleading movies.

Wait, what's wrong with Cheerleading movies? I never was one but I can respect that it's a strenous sport...particularly the non-stop smiling they have to do. Admirable. But seriously, Bring It On with Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku and Gabrielle Union has to be one of the cooler films I've seen with cheerleaders.

How about the skating movie, Ice Castles (1978)?

The IMDB tagline reads, "The story of a girl who refused to forget she was once a champion."

There's always Pat and Mike, wherein Katharine Hepburn plays every sport ever. It's my absolute fave, and is great for showing how far we've come... also, there's a ton of rather... "strong minded female" golfers in it. My favourite part is when Kate takes out two mob guys, much to the disbelief and horror of Spencer Tracy's manly pride. ;-)

I wholeheartedly agree that finding decent sports film featuring women is impossible. The best ones to date are Million Dollar Baby, Girlfight, Love and Basketball, and Bend it Like Beckham. It is unfortunate that the list stops there. With the exception of Million Dollar Baby and perhaps Girlfight none of these films are on the same level as a Rocky, Hoosiers, Raging Bull etc. Not until Title IX did we even get equal access to sports so perhaps we have to wait a little while longer to get a decent film or two made.

You're right, I forgot the ice skating movies! Besides "Ice Castles", there's also "Ice Princess" with Dawn from "Buffy"...

"Heart of the Game" is excellent.....I highly recommend it. It also, btw, tangentially features a young woman who comes out as a lesbian after high school (after a rocky high school career that included sexually exploitive relationship with a private b-ball coach (male)). At any rate, any woman who appreciates women's sports (for whatever reason ;-)) should check out the film......I agree, "Bend it Like Beckham" is one of my favs (and my 8-year-old daughter and her pals love it too)!

I must also admit that "Bring it On" is a guilty pleasure, thanks in large measure to a certain midriff baring Eliza Dushku....and don't forget the brief appearance of some field hockey players and the admirer in "Election."

I love the documentary "Lipstick & Dynamite" about female professional wrestlers back in the day. They used had to be athletes.

Although it is really not about female athletes, I would have to recommend "Wildcats," starring Goldie Hawn as a coach for an inner city Chicago football team. It is also a chance to see Goldie Hawn topless.

Some sports movies that I haven't seen:
Sports Heroines: Early Women Sports Stars
Annie O
Nadia
The Next Karate Kid (which of course stars Hilary Swank)
Quarterback Princess (starring Helen Hunt)
Dare to Compete: History of Women in Sports (HBO)
She Got Game

Well I don't think there are any great sport films period! It's not just female sport films.

If you want to vague up the definition of sport movie, you can include "Princess of Thieves" (archery) with Kiera Knightley. There's also a girl or two in the Mighty Duck series. There's also "Brink!" (aggressive skating) with Christina Vidal. Well, that's all I can think of for now, I might be back with more.

I'll take any movie with Michelle Rodriguez! But speaking of movie, n sorry Sarah this has nothing to do with sports movies, but i've just been emailin everybody over this new movie Smokin aces(out jan 26th) with Alicia keys playing an assassin,( n acording to mtv.Com) who just happens 2 be a lesbian. See, wishful thinking works! Now, don't forget to add that to best lesbian week ever! N check out the preview !

A League of their Own is about BASEBALL, not softball. The first women's pro baseball league ever. The women, now in their 70s and 80s, are meeting for a reunion in Houston this week.

does the cutting edge count??? it's partner's figure skating but she was way better than the guy!!!

I was going to mention Bring It On too! I always get a kick out of that movie.

What about Blue Crush? Surfing and Michelle once again!
Does the Descent count? It does have sporty women and rock climbing and all that. It's just great...

Two I haven't seen: Ring Girls, which I think is about martial arts, and Thin Ice, about a lesbian ice skater and the Gay Games.

Oops, just noticed you mentioned Blue Crush already!

I think that National Velvet should be counted.

What was that movie with Raquel Welch in roller derby?
Was it Kansas City Bombers?

Stick It takes up gmnastics

The Next Karate Kid is actually the fourth movie.

Disney Channel has made some movies with female atheletes.

Double Teamed - The true story of Heather and Heidi Burge. Mackenzie Phillips played the girls' mom in the movie. (2002) Maybe not the best movie ever, but not bad.

Motorcrossed - Where a girl pretends to be her brother so she can compete in motorcross. (2001)

Go Figure - Katelin Kingsford, an Olympic hopeful figure skater wants to train with a Russian figure skating coach. In order to go to go to the school that Natasha is at, Katelin gets a scholarship playing on the girls hockey team. (2005) Kristi Yamaguchi makes a brief appearance as herself.

Wendy Wu, Homecoming Warrior - Brenda Strong plays Wendy Wu, who learns just before homecoming that she's supposed to battle a great evil. (2006)

There have been others that I can't remember the names of right now.

Thanks for all the additions! I'd forgotten I've actually seen Wendy Wu and Double Teamed (they were okay), and that "A League of Their Own" was about baseball. And yes, by Karate Kid 3 I meant The Next Karate Kid". Not that the title matters on that one, it's still a silly movie. :)

I thought the idea here was quality sports films. No disrespect but Stick It and The Next Karate Kid are you serious?

I recently saw a movie from the 70s about Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias...It was called "Babe", but it should have been titled "Babe (I'm not a lesbian) and George" because it focused on her relationship with her husband George. Her athletic career was definitely the subplot. And I don't ever remember Babe adopting a cute little black boy! Oh wait, that's Webster...sorry, same actors. ;)

Rory-

I can vouch for two movies off of your list--Nadia (gymnastics) and Quarterback Princess (football). My dear not-so-old dad taped these two made-for-TV movies for me when they were broadcast on network TV back in the 80s and I estimate that I have watched each probably 30 times. They were my favorite tapes while I was growing up and just about the only positive representation of female athletes that I could find. I mostly played soccer as a kid, but you take what you can get.

Another HBO doc which I don't think has been mentioned yet:
-Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team (not the greatest treatment of "The Story . . . " but whatever)

I know its recent, as in still hitting the film festival curcuit but I think we should count The Gymnast, which is also a lesbian in sports movie. If you can get an olympic medal for gymnastics than it counts as a sport :)

Girls!!! what about 'but im a cheerleader'' is just at the very beginning and at the end,( and in the "dr T and the women" helen hunt plays golf and the lesbian daugther which name i cant remember now is cheeleader i think so)
"Lost and delirous" where they play soccer or football.Whatever esther williams ones, lory's petty "point break" but not too much surfing there ate least her.
In "the silence of the lambs" foster star trainning and then she can play the gun.
but the best is "the bodyguard" that w. houston doing something in the gym or maybe im confusing with peta wilson in "nikita la femme" hehehehe

or

I doubt anyone is still checking back this far, but there is also "Edge of America." I bought it tonight at blockbuster on a whim (you , know, those 4 for 20 deals on used dvds?)
Anyway, the cover promised it to be a joyous piece of Americana that was similar to Bend it Like Beckham. I found it to be more like a Michelle Pfiefer (a la "Dangerous Minds) as a black man (a la "Coach Carter") coaching girls basketball team on a Native American Reservation... but then I kept going through analogies to Hoosiers, Remember the Titans, yes, Bend It Like Beckham... SO, I guess it is just another all round good film about sports and people, only it enters the ranks of the relatively few sports movies about female athletes:-) (which this posting seems to show are a bit of a rarity these days). It's a Showtime movie directed by Chris Eyre, where James McDaniel's character takes a job as an English teacher at the Three Nations Reserve in Utah. The dvd jacket reads, "by taking on the challenge of coaching the women's high school basketball team, both the girls and he learn what it takes to believe in themselves and others."
Overall, it was a great movie to watch (not winnning any Oscars, but it certainly had me entertained and wishing I was on the court for the duration) and I already recommended it to my roommate.