Why we love sports movies: Belonging Before the Win- Why Sports Movies Still Move Us

Last night, I curled up on the couch with Willie and put on Little Giants.

If you’re of a certain age, you know exactly the one — cold Minnesota air, oversized helmets, kids who don’t quite fit anywhere else, and a team that nobody expects anything from. I hadn’t watched it in years. But there we were, laughing at the same lines I remembered from my childhood, popcorn between us.

And somewhere between the Annexation of Puerto Rico and the kids finally believing in themselves, something clicked for me.

Every great sports movie is really about belonging.

Not championships.
Not trophies.
Not being the best.

Belonging comes first. Success follows later.

The Pattern We’ve Been Watching Our Whole Lives

Think about it.

In The Sandlot, those boys don’t grow confident because they’re suddenly great at baseball. They grow confident because they’re invited in. Because someone says, “You can play with us.” Because they find a place where being awkward, new, or unsure doesn’t disqualify you — it just means you’re learning.

In Remember the Titans, the turning point isn’t a winning play. It’s when players start seeing each other as teammates instead of enemies. When walls come down. When connection happens before cohesion. Only then does the team actually become a team.

In Little Giants, the kids who have been overlooked, teased, or told they’re not “real athletes” finally experience something powerful: someone believes they belong on the field.

And once they believe that — everything changes.

We could keep going.

Hoosiers.
A League of Their Own.
Coach Carter.
McFarland, USA.
Friday Night Lights.

Different sports.
Different generations.
Same storyline.

Belonging first.
Confidence second.
Success last.

Why These Movies Land With Us So Deeply

There’s a reason these movies stay with us — long after we forget the final score.

It’s because at some point in our lives, most of us have been on the outside.

Maybe we weren’t picked first.
Maybe we were the new kid.
Maybe we didn’t have the right gear, the right body type, the right confidence, the right last name.

Maybe we were too loud, too quiet, too emotional, too different.

We recognize ourselves immediately in those characters.

The kid standing alone in the outfield.
The player who rides the bench.
The one pretending not to care — when really, they care the most.

These movies don’t just remind us of sports.
They remind us of that feeling.

The longing to be chosen.
The hope that someone might say, “You belong here.”
The quiet belief that if given a chance, we might surprise ourselves.

That’s why audiences cheer when the misfits win — not because they beat the other team, but because they were finally seen.

It’s not about proving others wrong.
It’s about proving to ourselves that we were never broken to begin with.

And maybe that’s why these stories still move us as adults.

Because even now — in leadership spaces, workplaces, schools, and communities — many of us still carry that same quiet question:

“Do I belong here?”

Sports movies give us a temporary answer.

They let us believe — even for two hours — that belonging is possible.
That people can change.
That teams can be built differently.

And deep down, we don’t just want that for the characters on the screen.

We want it for our kids.
For our teams.
For our schools.
For ourselves.

What These Movies Got Right (That We Sometimes Forget)

As adults, we often flip the order.

We say things like:

• “Once they commit, they’ll feel part of it.”

• “Once they make varsity, they’ll belong.”

• “Once they prove themselves, they’ll gain confidence.”

But kids — and humans — don’t work that way.

Belonging isn’t the reward at the end.
It’s the foundation at the beginning.

When a child feels safe, seen, and accepted:

• they try harder

• they take risks

• they stay longer

• they come back tomorrow

When they don’t, they don’t always quit loudly.

They just fade.

Not because they didn’t love the activity — but because they never felt like it loved them back.

Watching It Through a Parent’s Eyes

Watching Little Giants with Willie felt different than it did when I was a kid.

Because now I wasn’t just watching a movie.

I was watching a reminder.

That my job — and our job as adults — isn’t to create the next highlight reel.

It’s to create spaces where kids feel brave enough to try.

Where the shy kid still gets a jersey.
Where the late bloomer still gets time.
Where effort matters.
Where identity is honored.
Where connection comes before correction.

Because when kids find belonging, they don’t just find success in sports.

They find confidence.
They find voice.
They find resilience.

They find themselves.

And that — far more than any scoreboard — is the real win.

—
The GRL Initiative
Because belonging changes everything.