I was an athlete from early childhood. I like to play a lot of sports and preferred team sports. Being on a championship team is a great feeling that endures the test of time. It is also the most difficult to execute due to exactly the title of this thread. Working together is hard and requires individual excellence as well as working for the common good of the team which may be in conflict with personal goals. I have always been able to put the team first and I can accept defeat due to human failure either my own or others. The reward when things come together offset the compromises.
My favorite sport of late is cycling and I especially like team events such as team time trial, team pursuit and team sprint. I also like to live in the present and look forward to the future. Last year at the Masters State Track championships, I wanted to ride team pursuit. The teammates I had from the previous year were committed to other events or teams. Most notably, my friend and current masters pursuit national champion had switched cycling teams and hand selected a 4 man team to win team pursuit.
The day of the event, I found two other racers from my club and we had 3 on our team. We beat the hand picked four man team with 3 racers and won gold. I denied my buddy the top position on the podium. Winning as a team was a great feeling.
However for those that are trying to relive their glory years here is a video for you.