The 9 Best Women's Sports Movies In Honor of The Mighty Macs

Blue Crush (2002)

Director: John Stockwell

Stars: Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez and Matthew Davis

Sport: Surfing

Why It Is Awesome: Much like Bring It On, the beauty of this guilty pleasure movie is that it knows it is a guilty pleasure movie. It features a trio of friends who have two very crucial things in common: they look great in bikinis and they dream of surfing Hawaii's famed North Shore. In addition to inspiring some viewers to learn to surf (or at least, think about learning how to surf), it is rumored that the film helped inspire an actual women's heat in the Pipeline Competition.

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Director: Clint Eastwood

Stars: Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood

Sport: Boxing

Why It Is Awesome: A rags-to-ring sports story, this Clint Eastwood-directed tearjerker features Hilary Swank (who won an Oscar for her performance) as a small-town boxer who is reluctantly trained by a gruff, under-appreciated trainer (Eastwood). It's less about inspiration than a beautiful, well-acted (and slightly depressing) story.

Whip It (2009)

Director: Drew Barrymore

Stars: Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore and Kristen Wiig

Sport: Roller Derby

Why It Is Awesome: A sports movie for misfits, this Drew Barrymore-directed picture chronicles the the adventures of Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page), a small town beauty queen who ditches her evening gown for elbow pads and joins the local underdog roller derby team, the Hurl Scouts. Not only will Whip It make team sports sound less frightening to the athletically disinclined, it'll challenge them to think of better derby nicknames than Maggie Mayhem, Bloody Holly, Rosa Sparks, Smashley Simpson and Iron Maven.

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