For many people, sports are simply a way to keep fit and have fun. A game of pickup football with the fellows from their auto dealer supply company can help with bonding and give everybody time to blow off steam. Most of the time, nobody even keeps track of the score. If you're driven to win, you probably find this really annoying, and your friends probably find you annoying too, with your constant harping on them to play better. If this sounds like you, do everyone a favor and sign up for a competitive sports league.

Competitive sports leagues aren't just for professional sports players. There are leagues for every age group and skill level from children right up to old timers, so you should be able to find something to suit you, especially if you own real estate in Richmond and therefore have access to every sports program in Greater Toronto. The key is to find a team or a league where everyone has a similar skill level to you, so neither you nor them are able to find much fault with each others' game.

The lowest level of competitive sports league is probably the intramural or intra-sector league, where teams from different classes in the same school or different companies in the same sector compete against one another for fun and bragging rights. A psychologist in Hamilton probably doesn't have anything like this available to join, so if you are one you should check with your local parks and recreation department to see if they have any competitive leagues running in the sport of your choice. For kids, the best leagues are in school or at the community center.

Sometimes competitive leagues operate on a first come first served basis, with players signing up until all the teams are filled. The more competitive the league, however, the more likely it is that you will need to try out in order to be admitted. You will probably also have to commit to training with the team on a Toronto beach or attending all games regardless of what else you've got going on in your life. Most leagues have a registration fee to offset the cost of hiring officials for games, renting playing space, and buying trophies or medals for the winners.

There are leagues for almost every sport, including the more obscure ones like sledge hockey, Australian rules football, and cricket. Generally speaking, though, the biggest leagues are for the most popular sports, which means hockey, baseball, basketball, soccer, and football. Some leagues are even semi-professional, with players' expenses and equipment provided by sponsors like Ancaster Home Builders or Tim Horton's. These games will often have an attendance fee for fans, whereas with most community leagues spectators can watch at their leisure.