52 Kid-Friendly Best Sports Movies 

The Rookie (2002) Drama – True story about a high school baseball coach who overcomes a career-ending shoulder injury to fulfill his dream of playing professional baseball. 

Jim Thorpe: All-American (1951) B/W Drama – True story about Native American, Jim Thorpe, who overcomes obstacles in pursuit of his dreams of becoming a famous football star and Olympic athlete.

The Pride of the Yankees (1942) B/W Biographical Drama – Moving story about legendary New York Yankees baseball player, Lou Gehrig, and his battle with a terrible illness.

Best Sports Movies

Brian's Song (1971) Drama – Heart-wrenching story about the friendship between two players on the 1960s Chicago Bears football team, one white and one black, during the civil rights era, and how their bond strengthened when one of them received devastating news.

Seven Days in Utopia (2011) Drama – Young golfer, Luke, is about to make the "big time" when he finds his promising future hanging in the balance. While driving the back roads of Texas, Luke encounters a rancher who offers to change his life if he will commit to spending one week with him in his small town. 

Hoosiers (1986) Docudrama – Ex-college coach gets a second chance when he is hired to head up the basketball program at a small Indiana town.  

The Natural (1984) Drama – A young baseball star is the victim of a shooting and fights his way back to professional baseball as a rookie. His hard work earns him recognition as one of the best players in the league and helps him turn around his losing team.

Miracle (2004) Drama – Inspiring true story about the 1980 U.S. men's Olympic ice hockey team and their fight to overcome seemingly impossible odds to defeat the powerful Soviet team for the gold medal.

The Bad News Bears (1976) Comedy – Grumpy, hard-drinking ex-minor-league player gets coerced into coaching a neighborhood little league baseball team.

Invincible (2006) Biography – True story of a 30-year-old high school teacher who gets the opportunity to try out for his favorite team, the Philadelphia Eagles, and becomes the oldest rookie in the NFL who never played collegiate football.

Best Sports Movies

Eight Men Out (1988) Drama –  Heading into the 1919 World Series against the Reds, the Chicago White Sox players are disgruntled with their owner over their low salaries. A group of the best Sox players are enticed by professional gamblers to throw the series in return for a fortune.

Cool Runnings (1993) Adventure – Fun story about the first Jamaican bobsled team at the Winter Olympics. Despite the fact they have never seen snow, lack adequate training equipment, and are coached by a man who has earned public disgrace, they are determined to qualify for the Olympic Games.

Glory Road (2006) Docudrama – Based on the true story of the 1966 Texas Miners men's basketball team and their coach, Don Haskins, who builds a winning program with a diverse group of players and combats racial tension along the way. 

We Are Marshall (2006) Docudrama – Tragedy strikes Marshall University and its surrounding community when a plane carrying the football team crashes, claiming 75 lives, including players, coaches, and boosters. A new coach comes to town to rebuild the football program and heal the grieving community.

Little Giants (1994) Comedy – Story of two grown-up brothers settling unresolved issues from childhood as they coach youth football and face off in the playoffs. 

Best Sports Movies

The Express (2008) Drama – Story of Ernie Davis who overcomes poverty and personal setbacks to become a highly acclaimed football player at Syracuse University and the first black player to win the Heisman Trophy.

The Babe (1992) Drama – The story of Babe Ruth as he rises out of his troubled childhood and sometimes rocky professional baseball career to become a major league home run king.

Chariots of Fire (1981) Drama – Two young runners fulfill their quest to represent the United Kingdom in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. Eric Liddell, a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries, sees running as his way of giving glory to God, while Harold Abrahams overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias.

Rudy (1993) Drama – Overcoming dyslexia, no tuition money, and the grades to get into Notre Dame to fulfill his dream of playing football for the Fighting Irish, Rudy is accepted into the university and fights his way onto the football team.

Victory (1981) Drama/Action/Adventure – The head of a German POW camp organizes a soccer match between Nazi players and their Allied prisoners as a way to further the agenda of the Third Reich.

Rocky (1976) Drama – Small-time boxer is randomly selected to take on the reigning heavyweight champion of the world.

Best Sports Movies

Remember the Titans (2000) Drama – The foundation of a high school football program is rocked when the local school board is forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white school.

Facing the Giants ( 2006) Drama – A Christian high school football coach, on the verge of losing his job due to six consecutive losing seasons, inspires his team to use their faith to conquer fear and opposition. 

A League of Their Own (1992) Comedy/Drama – Story of the professional all-female baseball league that springs up during World War II when the nation’s male athletes are off fighting the war.

Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius ( 2004) Drama – Biographical drama about legendary golfer, Bobby Jones, his rise to stardom, and the challenges he faces balancing his golf career with his personal life.

Secretariat (2010) Docudrama – Inspiring story about a woman's belief in the talent of a young colt and her fight against the odds in a male-dominated sport to make history  as Secretariat wins the Triple Crown in 1973.

Best Sports Movies

Phar Lap (1983) Docudrama – A horse trainer takes a risk leasing a sickly horse from his boss, but with the help of his stable boy he turns the horse into a winner coveted by many.

Field of Dreams (1989) Fantasy – An Iowa farmer builds a baseball diamond on his land in response to a mysterious voice he hears that says, “If you build it, they will come.” Soon, the ghosts of great baseball players start emerging from the corn field to play.

The Sandlot (1993) Comedy – The adventures of a group of neighborhood friends who meet regularly to play pickup baseball games on a local sandlot.

Snow Dogs (2002) Adventure – The adventure of a Miami dentist who travels to Alaska to claim his inheritance which turns out to be a mischievous sled dog team. 

Iron Will (1994) Drama – A young boy, desperate to rescue his mother from financial ruin, registers for a marathon dog sled race with a $10,000 prize. 

Best Sports Movies

Running Brave ( 1983) Drama – Story of 1964 Tokyo Olympic gold medal winner, Billy Mills, as he journeys from his Indian reservation to a college track career and then on to the Olympics games. 

McFarland, USA (2015) Drama – A white track coach moves to a predominately Latino high school in California's Central Valley. When he realizes the exceptional running ability of his students, he capitalizes on their tremendous work ethic, strong family ties, and team commitment to build a championship cross country team.

The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005) Drama - Based on a true story about Francis Ouimet who, while employed as a caddy at a prestigious country club, hones his golf skills during off hours and enters the 1913 U.S. Open.

Soul Surfer (2011) Drama – A teenage surfing sensation loses her arm in a shark attack and, while fighting back to return to competition, she discovers a greater purpose for her life. 

Radio (2003) Drama – A mentally disabled African-American student, Radio, is befriended by a high school football coach who takes him on as his assistant.

Friday Night Lights (2004) Drama –A high school football team in a small, turbulent Texas town and the new coach face challenges as he tries to inspire his players to overcome the loss of their star tailback and find the self-respect and honor to face the town's significant social problems.

The Blind Side (2009) Drama – A black, homeless teenager, Michael Oher, is taken in by a wealthy white family and is transformed into a successful college student-athlete and eventually into a pro football player.

Moneyball (2011) Drama – Major league baseball manager faced with a tight budget reinvents conventional recruiting methods and recruits players deem flawed by other scouts but show game-winning potential.

Coach Carter (2005) Docudrama – A high school basketball coach returns to his Alma mater to turn the program around using strict rules and academic discipline and faces conflicts from players and parents in the process.

42 (2013) Drama – Story about Jackie Robinson and how he broke the color barrier in major league baseball when he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Best Sports Movies

Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001) Biography – Documentary about a group of kids who change American pop culture by doing what they love and what they're good at, skateboarding. 

Senna (2010) Biography – True story about Brazilian Formula One racing champion, Ayrton Senna, and his untimely death.

The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) Fantasy – A once-promising golfer whose life and career were interrupted by World War I plays in a high-stakes golf tournament with the help of a mysterious coach, Bagger Vance.

Goal! (2005) Drama – A Mexican cook working in the U.S. gets a chance to follow his dream of playing professional soccer in the United Kingdom.

Sugar (2008) Drama – Story of a 19-year-old baseball player from the Dominican Republic who chases his dream of playing professional baseball in the U.S. He lands a pitching spot on a single-A team and is combated with culture shock, racism, and other events that sour his experience.

Best Sports Movies

Bend it Like Beckham (2002) Comedy/Drama – An 18-year old daughter in a strict Indian family in London is not permitted to play organized soccer. While playing around one day, she is asked to play for a semi-pro team and has to hide her involvement from the family.

Seabiscuit (2003) Drama – Amazing true story of a businessman, jockey, and horse trainer who team up to overcome great individual challenges and turn an unlikely racehorse into one of the winningest thoroughbreds of all time.

23 Blast (2013) Drama – High school football hero, Travis Freeman, contracts an infection that causes him to go blind overnight. With the help of those who love him he continues to compete on the football field and helps his team advance to the state championship.

Race (2016) Drama – Inspiring story of Jesse Owens, black American track star in the 1930s, who represents the U.S. in the Berlin Olympic Games and competes in front of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany  to show the world that he is the fastest runner alive.

Invictus (2009) Drama – In an effort to unite a racially and economically divided South Africa, President Nelson Mandela teams up with the captain of the national rugby team to make a bid for the 1995 World Cup.

Best Sports Movies

The Waterboy (1998) Comedy – Bobby Boucher, water boy for a winning football team, is fired by the head coach and ends up making the playing roster for an opposing team, helping them become playoff contenders.