Good Sports

I've recently been coaching/playing on a basketball team for physically and mentally challenged adults. (None of them are "legally handicapped" or "genetically different" from what society has defined as "normal," but the physical and mental challenges are much more difficult for a bunch of slightly overweight guys who've never actually played organized basketball.) We play Tuesday nights at the Church as part of the infamous "Stake Basketball League." If you've ever played Church sports you understand that it is much different from "organized" sports. Organization is one of the key issues.
One of the major obstacles to Church sports is the distribution of talent. In an organized league you can set up different levels of teams, such as competitive, recreational, and terrible. In Church sports everyone gets dumped into the same pool and is allowed to compete together. Allowing players to form their own rosters added even more spice to the typical drama. In our local congregation the guys who had played in high school and still play regularly quickly found each other and filled their roster without an open invitation. Other teams were filled by people in a common age group, or who work at a particular place. I set out to recruit players with qualities similar to my own: Can't make a free throw, don't know all the rules, aren't very concerned with winning, enjoy playing for the fun of it, and need the exercise.
We've actually developed excellent skills as a team, playing off each other's strengths, and compensating for the abundant weaknesses. For example, I never get to dribble. Not that I'm not allowed to, I just don't do it very well, and so I pass the ball away as quickly as I can, most often to players on my team. I also have a designated spot to stand, right where the black squares are by the key. There I use my highly developed talent of being taller and heavier than most players to knock people out of the way and then hope the ball comes to me either by pass or missed shot. I then proceed to shoot the ball multiple times until it eventually lands in the basket, or someone else manages to jump over me and get the ball. I don't score a lot of points, but I lead the league in rebounds.
Our team has even won a few games, including against teams who were much better than us if taken as individuals. It just goes to show you that if you play as a team, and if the best players on the other team don't show up, you can win at any game you try.