Playing like a girl never looked so good. Female-driven sports movies give a sense of what it's like to be a baller, in a very literal sense of the word. These movies highlight what it's like to be a woman in sports, and as we already know, it's not always easy. Female athletes often have to work harder just to get noticed — that is, for their athletic ability since female athletes are too often judged by their looks — and, ultimately, get paid less than their male counterparts. Heck, Serena Williams still has to defend herself against those who say she's not as good as the men, and she's won basically every tennis award you can get.

But sports movies starring women give us a chance to tackle the issues female athletes face every day head on, sexism being the biggest problem of all. The 18 films below cover a range of sports from surfing to baseball to football to ballet (which is way more cutthroat than you may think), but they all get at it from a female perspective. A view that is often lost in the world of sports. 2000 was a pretty great year for female sports movies, and the follow films show off the best of the best with awesome ladies at the helm. They're definitely worth checking out.

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1. A League Of Their Own (1992)

Directed by Penny Marshall, this baseball movie is the gold standard for female sports movies that made it clear that there's no crying in baseball. It tells the fictional tale of the very real All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which started during WWII as a way to keep baseball in the public eye while the men were away. After watching this movie, you'll definitely want to get out the glove while listening to Madonna's 'This Used To Be My Playground,' in honor of those women who showed baseball wasn't just a man's game.

2. Whip It (2009)

For anyone who thought roller derby was a cutesy sport filled with punny names, Drew Barrymore's directorial debut got at the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into the contact sport. We watch Ellen Page's character, Bliss, find herself as she learns to skate, block, and whip. Yes, she whips it good. It's a coming of age story with roller skates that will make you proud to be number two.

3. Love & Basketball (2000)

Monica Wright is trying to make it into the NBA. It's actually one of the first things we hear her say, fittingly, to her next door neighbor Quincy McCall, who also plans to play professional ball when he grows up. We see Monica struggle to achieve her dream, mostly because of her bad attitude but also because of the lack of opportunities for upward mobility for female athletes. Sure, it's a love story, but, as the title implies, it's also about the love of the game.

4. National Velvet (1944)

This is a story about a girl and her horse. A very young Elizabeth Taylor stars as a 12-year-old girl named Velvet, who, after winning a horse and training it to compete, decides the jockey they have isn't good enough. She decides to step in, but has to pretend to be a young boy to do so. It's a kid's movie, and it's not the most modern, but it does send a good message about never giving up and never letting anyone tell you that you can't do something because of your gender.

5. She's The Man (2006)

Amanda Bynes will do whatever it takes to play soccer — even pretend to be her brother. It all sounds so silly, but there's something inspiring about how Bynes' character Viola strives to do what she loves despite how many people tell her she can't. Of course, in the end, she proves them all wrong by showing she shouldn't be discriminated against because of her gender. Nothing silly about that.

6. Eddie (1996)

Whoopi Goldberg wins a contest and becomes the coach of the New York Knicks for a day. Sure, it's a comedy, but Goldberg gets to play the one who knows how to bring this seemingly terrible team back on track by understanding the game better than any of the guys. Since there are currently only two female assistant coaches in the NBA, this is a pretty inspiring film, even if it's just supposed to be a joke.

7. Blue Crush (2002)

This surfing movie starring Kate Bosworth gets at how scary the sport can be. The shots of waves crashing down on people and Bosworth's Ann Marie Chadwick having her head slammed against a rock definitely adds to the fear factor. I's hard not to watch this movie and have even more respect for surfers. And for women who clean hotel rooms.

8. Wildcats (1986)

Never underestimate Goldie Hawn. That's the lesson you learn from this football movie, where she plays a coach who takes over an inner-city high school football team. No one thinks she's tough enough to whip them into shape, but she's been waiting for this her whole life. As the daughter of a football coach, winning is in her blood.

9. Bring It On (2000)

Spirit fingers or not, cheerleading is a sport, and don't you ever forget it. This movie pokes fun at cheerleading stereotypes, but it definitely doesn't kid around when it comes to the athleticism that goes into the routines.

10. Personal Best (1982)

Focusing on the U.S. women's track team after they're told America isn't participating in the 1980 Olympics, the movie gives an insider's look at the world of women's sports and the training that goes into being the best. It also looks at the relationships between the female athletes and their coaches and teammates, who they often have to compete against. This becomes harder when the movie's star, a young bisexual woman, falls in love with one of the other runners.

11. Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

This movie combines soccer and religion and how they intersect for one Indian woman. Jess Bhamra wants to play soccer, but her more traditional Sikh family would like to see her do pretty much anything else. The movie is about soccer, yes, but it's also about growing up and finding your own way, with or without your mom and dad's permission.

12. Pat and Mike (1952)

This film, starring Katherine Hepburn as a high-ranking golfer and tennis player, is definitely worth mentioning. Sure, the premise is that Hepburn is a star athlete except for when her fiancé is around, and ultimately she ends up with Spencer Tracy, her shady promoter, in the end, but the film is all about her trying to win the championship. It's about her reaching her goal. That's a message we can get behind.

13. Center Stage (2000)

The American Ballet Academy shows how tough it is to be a prima ballerina by looking at three different women who are trying to nab the title. Jody is the newbie with poor turnout, but a lot of heart. Eva is talented, but can't move ahead because of her attitude. And Maureen is killing herself to be the ballerina her mom always wanted her to be. In the end, you get a sense of the pressure that goes into the art of ballet.

14. Girlfight (2000)

Michelle Rodriguez is a girl who loves to fight, but, unfortunately, she's doing most of it out of the ring. After her brother starts taking boxing lessons, she finds she has a knack for it and starts sparring competitively. Like many movies about women in sports, she has to overcome the stigma of being a woman, specifically when she's put up against male fighters. But, in the end, Rodriguez more than a fighter; she's a survivor.

15. The Cutting Edge (1992)

Kate Moseley is a tough, spoiled brat of an ice skater who was at the top of her game until she loses her partner. After being paired up with former hockey player Doug Dorsey, we watch that icy exterior melt and realize she's got a sensitive side underneath she's never been allowed to reveal. Soon, this natural born athlete is learning to trust again, not just on the ice, but off too. She also taught us a very important lesson about the toe pick, and why you shouldn't mess with it.

Indiana jones and the last crusade tank. The Indiana Jones tank is from the big battle between Indy and the Nazis in the middle of the desert. You no doubt remember it as the second best of the Indy movies (though your memory is faulty; Temple of Doom is actually better than Last Crusade). I hated seeing this thing in the boneyard. The tank in The Last Crusade wasn’t a real tank. It was a prop built on a bulldozer chassis to model a Mark VIII. However the real Mark VIII’s of late World War I did not have a turret. The turret is either from one of the many types of British Cr. The tank idea was used from Chris Columbus' unrealized Indiana Jones and the Monkey King script, which was one of the screenplays considered for the third Indiana Jones film before it became Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. However, in Columbus' story, that tank was large enough to raze an entire jungle. Appearances Edit. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.For many fans, Last Crusade is the best of the series. It has a perfect blend of genuinely funny humour, compelling. Indiana Jones teams up with his father to try and locate the Holy Grail. Something that the Nazis are again particularly interested in themselves. We didn't know it at the time, but every Indiana Jones fan on the planet presumed that The Last Crusade.

16. Offside (2006)

This Iranian film looks at a group of women who just want to go see their favorite soccer team play in the World Cup. Since women are banned from male sporting events, it's a lot harder than it seems. The lengths they go to see the game will make you think twice before complaining about the ticket lines at the next sporting event you go to.

17. Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Grab the tissues for this one about a small town female boxer who is trying to make it to the big time with her cranky coach, who doesn't think women are tough. Boy, does she teach him. You'll definitely understand why Hilary Swank won her second Oscar for this one.

18. Little Giants (1994)

What little girl didn't want to be like Icebox? She was tough, with a great arm and no fear when it came to running down her rivals that were bigger than her. This movie also looks at that time in a girl's life where she sometimes feels like she has to choose between sports and boys. The message was clear, though, that someone who doesn't appreciate you for who you are, isn't worth it. And that Becky aka Icebox is not one to mess with.

In Revelation, the Avatar reunites these opposing sides to uncover the true instigator of the war.At the beginning of the plot, the Avatar is declared a traitor of both sides as he declines siding with any of the two. Fire emblem awakening randomizer citra.

Whether you're an athlete yourself or think sports are best enjoyed through your eyes and a television, these movies will inspire you to overcome anything that society might throw your way. Especially if you're a woman.

Image: Fox Searchlight/YouTube

Ice hockey, between two teams, each usually having six players, who wear skates and compete on an rink. The object is to propel a vulcanized rubber disk, the, past a goal line and into a guarded by a goaltender, or goalie. With its speed and its frequent physical contact, ice hockey has become one of the most popular of international. The game is an sport, and worldwide there are more than a million registered players performing regularly in leagues. It is perhaps ’s most popular game. History OriginsUntil the mid-1980s it was generally accepted that ice hockey derived from English and Indian and was spread throughout Canada by British soldiers in the mid-1800s.

Research then turned up mention of a hockeylike game, played in the early 1800s in by the (Micmac) Indians, which appeared to have been heavily influenced by the Irish game of hurling; it included the use of a “hurley” (stick) and a square wooden block instead of a. It was probably fundamentally this game that spread throughout Canada via Scottish and Irish immigrants and the British army. The players adopted elements of field hockey, such as the “bully” (later the face-off) and “shinning” (hitting one’s opponent on the shins with the stick or playing with the stick on one “shin” or side); this evolved into an informal ice game later known as or shinty. The name hockey—as the organized game came to be known—has been attributed to the French word hoquet (shepherd’s stick). The term rink, referring to the designated area of play, was originally used in the game of in 18th-century Scotland.

Early hockey games allowed as many as 30 players a side on the ice, and the goals were two stones, each frozen into one end of the ice. The first use of a puck instead of a ball was recorded at Kingston Harbour, Ontario, Canada, in 1860. Early organizationThe first recorded public indoor ice hockey game, with rules largely borrowed from field hockey, took place in Montreal’s Victoria Skating Rink in 1875 between two teams of students. Unfortunately, the reputation for violence that the game would later develop was presaged in this early encounter, where, as The Daily British Whig of, Ontario, reported, “Shins and heads were battered, benches smashed and the lady spectators fled in confusion.” The first organized team, the McGill University Hockey Club, formed in 1877, codified their game’s rules and limited the number of players on a side to nine. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription.By the opening of the 20th century, sticks were being manufactured, shin pads were worn, the goaltender began to wear a chest protector (borrowed from baseball), and arenas (still with natural ice and no heat for spectators) were being constructed throughout eastern Canada.

In 1893 national attention was focused on the game when the Canadian governor-general, donated a cup to be given annually to the top Canadian team. The three-foot-high silver cup became known as the and was first awarded in 1892–93. (The first winner was the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association team, which also captured the Stanley Cup the following season by winning the initial challenge series to determine the Cup holder, which was the Cup-awarding format that Lord Stanley originally intended.) Since 1926 the cup has gone to the winner of the play-offs. In 1899 the Canadian Amateur Hockey League was formed. All hockey in Canada at the time was “amateur,” it being “ungentlemanly” to admit to being paid for athletic services. Thus, the first acknowledged professional hockey team in the world was formed in the, in 1903, in Houghton, Michigan. The team, the Portage Lakers, was owned by a dentist named J.L.

Gibson, who imported Canadian players. In 1904 Gibson formed the first acknowledged professional league, the International Pro Hockey League. Canada accepted professional hockey in 1908 when the Ontario Professional Hockey League was formed. By that time Canada had become the centre of world hockey. League rivalriesThe National Hockey Association (NHA), the forerunner of the National Hockey League (NHL), was organized in 1910 and became the strongest hockey association in. Rising interest in the game created problems, however, for there were few artificial-ice rinks.

In 1911 the (PCHA) was formed by Joseph Patrick and his sons, who built two enclosed artificial-ice arenas, beginning a boom in the construction of artificial-ice rinks.The PCHA became involved in a money and player war with the NHA. Although the NHA ultimately emerged as the stronger league, it was the PCHA that introduced many of the changes that improved the game.

The only radical rule change adopted by the NHA was to reduce the number of players on a side to six, and that move was made to save money. The western league retained seven-man hockey, but it allowed the goalie to leap or to stop the puck. Under the previous rules, a goalie had had to remain stationary when making a save. The western league also changed the offside rule. Under the old rules, a player had been deemed offside if he was ahead of the puck carrier when he received a pass. The PCHA divided the ice into three zones by painting two blue lines across the surface and allowed forward passing in the centre zone between the blue lines.

This opened up the game and made it more exciting. Another in the western league was the idea of the assist. Previously, only the goal scorer had been credited with a point. In the PCHA the player or players who set up his goal were credited with an assist. The first numbered uniforms also appeared in their league.