Inspirational Sports Movies on Netflix Your Family Will Love to Watch Together

As the weather cools, the hockey and football seasons heat up. As I write this post, we are watching Hockey Night in Canada. My husband is a huge hockey fanatic, so we have the hockey game on the TV virtually every night. And as you know I love sports, but I am just not as big a fan of watching them as my husband is, I’d much rather play them or watch inspirational sports movies on Netflix with my hubby and kids while we cuddle up together on the couch.

30 Inspirational Sports Movies on Netflix

Undefeated – This heartfelt documentary is an inspirational profile of an inner-city high school football team’s valiant effort to reach the school’s first-ever playoff game.

2. We Could Be King – When two Philadelphia schools — bitter rivals in football — mergge due to budget cuts, a young head coach manages to inspire the disgruntled teams.

3. Season of a Lifetime – Aterminally ill high school football coach diagnosed with ALS makes the inspiring decision to lead his team for one last season before he retires.

4. The Roughnecks – Kids and coaches put it all on the line as the Ridglea Roughnecks of Fort Worth, Texas, fight to win their peewee football league’s championship.

5. Coach Carter – Controversial basketball coach Ken Carter puts school before sports and benches his undefeated high school team for poor academic performance.

6. The Fat Boy Chronicles – Taunted by classmates at his new school, overweight teenager Jimmy Winterpock resolves to lose weiht and win the girl of his dreams.

7. Radio – When a high school football coach befriends a developmentally disabled man, his subsequent growth inspires the townsfolk to think differently.

8. 4 Minute Mile – A teenage track star and a former coach who each face difficult obstacles in life turn to each other to find comfort,stability and hope.

9. Moneyball – This drama follows the true story of a former jock turned general manager who uses unusual methods to bring the best players to the Oakland A’s.

10. Save the Last Dance – Sara (Julia Stiles) is moved from a small Midwestern town to the south side of Chicago when her mother dies in a car accident, and must live with her father. She soon falls for an African American teenager (Sean Patrick Thomas) at her new high school and he has less than an idyllic past. They share a love for dance (ballet and hip hop respectively) and together they tackle the problems that go with an interracial relationship.

11. Usain Bolt – Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Usain St. Leo Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who’s widely regarded as the fastest man in the world.

12. Mcfarland – Teacher Jim White moves to a predominantly Latino community and finally connects with his students when he coaches its cross-country team to victory.

13. The Short Game – They are fiercely competitive athletes, determined to become champions on one of the world’s toughest golf courses. And they’re still in grade school.

14. Soul Surfer – Hawaiian teen Bethany Hamilton bravely returns to competitive surfing after losing her left arm in a vicious shark attack.

15. Facing the Giants – Grant Taylor, a Christian high-school football coach (Alex Kendrick), gets some very bad news. Besides his and his wife’s (Shannen Fields) infertility problems, he faces the attempt of local parents to force the school to replace him. His team, the Shiloh Eagles, has never had a winning season in the six years that he has coached the boys. Following a visitor’s message, Grant tries to inspire his team to use faith to conquer fear and opposing teams.

16. A Second Chance – A girl and her coach overcome adversity and make it onto the National Gymnastics Squad.

17. Ice Princess – Casey Carlyle (Michelle Trachtenberg) is supposed to go to Harvard, just like her mother (Joan Cusack). While Casey has the grades to get into her mom’s alma mater, what she really wants to do is pursue her passion: figure skating. Both Casey’s mom and Gen (Hayden Panettiere), the captain of the local team, scoff at the idea of Casey on the ice. But Casey soon finds an unlikely ally, and coach, in Gen’s mom, Tina (Kim Cattrall), a former skater trying to live down mistakes from her past.

18. Chasing Mavericks – When 15-year-old surfing phenomenon Jay Moriarty (Jonny Weston) discovers that the mythic Mavericks surf break, one of the biggest waves on Earth, actually exists near his California home, he becomes determined to conquer it. Jay enlists the aid of local surfing legend Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler) to train him to ride the Mavericks and live to tell about it. As Jay and Frosty carry on their quest to achieve the impossible, they develop a unique friendship that transforms both their lives.

19. Storm Rider – Dani, a spoiled teenager, loses everything when her father goes to jail. She learns what really counts in life when she goes to live with her uncle and cares for a young mule.

20. Free Willy – When maladjusted orphan Jesse (Jason James Richter) vandalizes a theme park, he is placed with foster parents and must work at the park to make amends. There he meets Willy, a young Orca whale who has been separated from his family. Sensing kinship, they form a bond and, with the help of kindly whale trainer Rae Lindley (Lori Petty), develop a routine of tricks. However, greedy park owner Dial (Michael Ironside) soon catches wind of the duo and makes plans to profit from them.

21. Home Run – An alcoholic ballplayer (Scott Elrod) has to return to his hometown to enter a rehab program and coach a youth baseball league.

22. Rising from Ashes – Legendary American cycler Jock Boyer helps members of Rwanda’s first national cycling team prepare for the 2012 Olympic Games.

23. The Phantoms – One year after an accident claims the lives of high-school basketball players, members of the team compete for the championship.

24. Ready to Fly – Lindsey Van and her ski-jumping family fight for gender equality in the Olympic Winter Games.

25. Waiting for Lightning -Danny Way rises from broken-home survivor to fame as a professional skateboarder and, in 2005, attempts to jump over the Great Wall of China.

26. Dancing in the Light – A passionate and dedicated black dancer in 1930s America is asked to dance by the prestigious Ballet Russe, but they want her to paint her skin white.

27. Fightville – Filmmakers Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein turn a spotlight on mixed martial arts and the lives of several Lousiana-based fighters.

28. The Battered Bastards of Baseball – In 1973, baseball lover and actor Bing Russell, father of Kurt Russell, starts an independent, single-A team composed of players that no one else wanted.

29. First Position – Six young ballet students, all from different backgrounds, prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, a competition in which dance schools and companies from around the world scout for new talent.

30. The Mighty Ducks – After reckless young lawyer Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) gets arrested for drunk driving, he must coach a kids hockey team for his community service. Gordon has experience on the ice, but isn’t eager to return to hockey, a point hit home by his tense dealings with his own former coach, Jack Reilly (Lane Smith). The reluctant Gordon eventually grows to appreciate his team, which includes promising young Charlie Conway (Joshua Jackson), and leads them to take on Reilly’s tough players.

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What are your favourite sports movies? I have so many that it’s hard to narrow it down to just a handful, so I’m going to bet at least one of your favourites is on this list!