During the height of football season, sometimes it’s necessary to watch a fictional version of the sport rather than reality. However, sometimes even that is too much to bear. Instead, here are five fun teen films about niche sports missing recognition among movie fans.
- “Whip It”
This movie made me want to join a roller derby team so badly as a child. In the heart of Texas, a misunderstood teenage girl stumbles across an underground roller derby league, and decides that she wants to try out. Even though she’s not old enough to be in the league and needs to lie about her age, plus the fact that she’s never participated in anything outside of the beauty pageants her mom forces her to do, Bliss Cavendar still tries out and ends up making the team.
Being her directorial debut, Drew Barrymore’s “Whip It” is a fun coming of age film that’s funny, dramatic, and proves that roller derby needs to be a more popularized sport. Even if they might be the worst team in the league, I’ll forever be rooting for the Hurl Scouts and wishing I could actually watch one of their matches.
- “Blue Crush”
With crashing waves against the Hawaiian shore and sun rays beating down against your surfboard, what more can you ask for? “Blue Crush” is a fun surfer girl film with intense competitions, risky surfing conditions, and even a budding romance. Professional football quarterback Matt Tolman isn’t anything like the usual surfer boys Anne Marie is used to, but maybe amid the chaos of her life, that’s just what she needs.
“Blue Crush” also deals with heavier topics such as tourism and gentrification, prominent issues in Hawaiian culture. While still being a fun movie, the themes are an important reminder of the current day social problems in Hawaii.
- “Go Figure”
Sometimes in movies, all it takes to make it to the Olympics is a Russian figure skating instructor. However, getting a chance to train underneath the top Russian instructor means Katelin Kingsford is going to have to learn how to play hockey, as her school only offers hockey scholarships, not figure skating scholarships.
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Combining two drastically different ice sports, “Go Figure” is a fun and silly adventure about a sparkling figure skater learning to be tough on the ice instead of graceful. And trust me, ice skating in hockey skates is a lot different than skating in figure skates.
- “Brink!”
I’ll never be a teenager living in California during the height of rollerblading popularity, but rewatching “Brink!” satisfies that craving. Filled with fun tricks and a heated rivalry, “Brink!” follows a group of “Soul-Skaters” that compete in inline rollerblading competitions for fun while facing off against the bigger, sponsored teams.
“Brink!” is an overall fun movie, even with loads of cliche’s, that never ceases to respark my love for rollerblading. It’s a great movie to watch when you need something fun, easy, and overall lighthearted even with a competitive edge.
- “Motocrossed!”
Like the title suggests, this film is all about motocross, cross country motorcycle racing. “Motocrossed!” follows teenager Andrea Carson as she disguises herself as her brother to compete in the national motocross race after her brother is injured. The film does a great job proving that women can compete in male-dominated sports, while still being entertaining and lighthearted.
This film is very familiar to the more popular, “She’s The Man,” and fans of that film will most likely enjoy this one as well. The movie follows a similar plot, also with a strikingly similar romance scenario. The only main difference between the two films is that “She’s The Man” is about soccer, and “Motocrossed!” is about motocross.