here's no "i" in "team," unless you're on my indoor floor hockey team. Then, the "i" is for "indies"—those of us who signed up individually through the Boston Ski and Sports Club (BSSC) to play, rather than bringing along our own posses. For an hour each week, I don shin guards, a sweet pair of protective glasses (with an elastic strap!), a mouth guard, and a purple BSSC T-shirt to take to the floor for 50 minutes of co-ed hockey with people who used to be strangers.

I've loved team sports since first-grade gym class, but it's difficult to keep playing them after high school or college, when people's schedules diverge and opportunities for organized athletics diminish. If you don't have a company softball or soccer squad, it's a lot easier to lace up your running sneakers or grab your yoga mat when you want to work out than it is to assemble and schedule a group of interested people, find a place to play, and start a league of your own.

But maybe you're not the solitary runner type. You're not into yoga (random cultural reference: Rupert Holmes wasn't either), or there isn't enough space in your living room to Zumba. Maybe you haven't found a suitable replacement for the workouts or camaraderie you enjoyed as a member of a team. This is when the "i" in "indies" can work for you. The BSSC alone offers more than a dozen sports, from volleyball and dodgeball to lacrosse and football.

That's how I met the eight people I now play with every week. Only two knew each other prior to our first game. While we are quite terrible compared to the opposing teams that have played together for several seasons, we still have a good time running around.

Yes, running. There are no skates or Rollerblades involved. And, since we lack just enough skill to play cohesively, we do a lot of running. Dumping the ball deep into our offensive zone and then sprinting after it in desperate attempts to keep it as far away as possible from our own goal and the the other team's sticks, tends to be our unspoken game plan. Maybe we need some advice from Mike Eruzione.

BSSC offers indoor floor hockey in Brighton and Newton several nights a week, and two outdoor leagues in Somerville and Watertown starting next month. Check the BSSC's sports info page for details.

As the name implies, the Boston Ski and Sports Club also offers ski and snowboarding trips, and other social activities including pub crawls and group trips to Red Sox games. Some activities are available to members only, but it's only $65 to join for a year, or less than a month's dues at a gym.