There are an astronomical amount of different situations in this game which make it an ongoing mental battle. As such, it teaches many life-skills. Among them; 'Planning and preparation are critical to performance', 'Being aggressive does not mean being reckless', 'Make the best of your situation', 'Contribute to a TEAM effort', 'Learn how to RELY on your team-mates', and always remeber, 'There is no "I" in TEAM'. This is NOT about individuals, it IS about working together as a unit. A big portion of this game which is too frequently overlooked, is the ownership of mistakes. Unless an error is admitted to, it is difficult for the player to get over it, get on with it and correct the error. We teach this as a life-skill: All too often players are afraid of being involved in a play for fear of making a mistake. We teach the WANT THE BALL! theory. What this means is that a player wants the chance to succeed but knows that they may make an error. But they make errors just as they make good plays, at 110%. They learn to recognize thier errors, take ownership of them and work to correct them. That is what we should strive for in our personal lives as well.