Where Did All the Women’s Sports Movies Go?

Where Did All the Women’s Sports Movies Go?

Netflix recently announced the development and production of The 99’ers, a sports ensemble biopic about Team USA’s historic win at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The U.S. Women’s National Team’s ultimate victory against China was a watershed moment for women’s sports in terms of interest, visibility, and viewership. The film will star Zoey Deutch, Emily Bader, Shauney Wood, Isabelle Fuhrman, Emilia Jones, Lizzy Greene, and more. The cast has been training like real footballers for the film and bonding like a real team. 

Photo from @emiliajonesy

It’s incredible to watch actors step into the shoes of athletes, and women’s sports icons have long deserved to have their stories told and shared widely. But… where did all the women’s sports movies that aren’t biopics go? 


Within the past decade or so, the number of women’s sports films has considerably dwindled, with the biggest titles being those based on real-life women: I, Tonya, Battle of the Sexes, King Richard, Nyad, The Fire Inside, and Christy. 


And while some of our nostalgic favorites are also biographical — Double Teamed, Soul Surfer, A League of Their Own — the aughts and 2010s offered a surplus of movies about women’s sports:

  • Ready to Run (2000)

  • Girlfight (2000)

  • Love & Basketball (2000)

  • Bring It On franchise (2000-2009)

  • Motocrossed (2001)

  • Blue Crush (2002)

  • Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

  • Million Dollar Baby (2004)

  • Go Figure (2005)

  • Ice Princess (2005)

  • Herbie Fully Loaded (2005)

  • She’s the Man (2006)

  • Stick It (2006)

  • Whip It (2009)


There have been only a handful of English-language films centered on fictional female athletes and their respective competitive sports released in the last decade, with the most mainstream being 2023’s Backspot and 2024’s Challengers.


Globally, India is leading the charge in fictional women’s sports movies. Six films about women athletes in soccer, boxing, track and field, kabaddi, cricket, and skateboarding were produced in India between 2016 and 2021.

  • Bigil (2019)

  • Irudhi Suttru (2016)

  • Rashmi Rocket (2021)

  • Kennedy Club (2019)

  • Kousalya Krishnamurthy (2019)

  • Skater Girl (2021)


Other international women’s sports movies include the queer volleyball Philippine rom-com Rookie, the Swedish coming-of-age soccer drama Forever, and the French-Swiss ice hockey drama Rivière, all released in 2023.


Documentaries and biopics are important contributions to cultural preservation, especially when it comes to spotlighting the hidden figures of women’s sports. But the inspiration, thrill, and joy of women’s sports doesn’t only come from real-life stories — audiences root for and cherish fictional athletes like Monica Wright and Jess Bhamra, too. With the popularity of fictional sports stories like Heated Rivalry, we can only hope that a new wave of fictional female athletes is just over the horizon, making their way to our screens.

Kaitlyn McNab is a contributing writer for TOGETHXR.com and an award-winning culture reporter and editor. Her creative mission is to celebrate and articulate diverse experiences across all narrative mediums.

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