Old men in basketball tournaments, and competing in today’s economy

By Steve Kelley

I’m typing this while recuperating from a 3-on-3 basketball tournament I was crazy enough to play in last weekend (my fingers still work, though most other parts are questionable). And though I may question my sanity for participating, the events did bring to mind an important truth about credit unions.
It seems that someone had the great idea to put together a tournament and invite people who had no business on a basketball court to form teams, so some friends of mine signed up and asked me to join them. Now, I am 50 years old, have never been much of a player, and have not laced up the old sneakers for years. Plus, two of my four teammates were also 50 (fortunately we were allowed to have five on a team to allow for subs). So, although the other two were young and athletic, our chances did not look good.
What happened, though, surprised me. Facing teams that were made up of younger (and healthier) players (only one other guy in the tournament was over 40!), we actually went undefeated and won the darn thing! And though my brain is still a bit foggy, I think I know why.
You see, although we were old, overweight and either “has-beens” or “never-weres,” the old guys on the team were smart enough to know what we were and weren’t capable of, and (for the most part) stuck to our strengths. My friend Mark, for instance, is quite tall, and if we got him the ball inside he had a pretty good chance of scoring; plus, he was hard to shoot over. John, on the other hand, is of the short and stout variety, but he was more than willing to give up his body to get a loose ball or just get in an opponent’s way. And as for me, well, I have deceptively long arms that let me rebound even though I can’t jump, and all my years of coaching kids have taught me a thing or two about strategy. We were able to depend on the two young guys to score most of our points, and the combination turned out to be, on that day at least, unbeatable.
And that’s what reminded me of credit unions. For the most part, credit unions are smaller, have fewer resources, and would be considered less “flashy” than their bank competitors. If they try to beat the banks at their own game, they’ll have little or no chance. But, the truth is that these “underdogs” do have some advantages, such as their not-for-profit structure (no stockholders looking for profits), member ownership (loyalty, anyone?), consumer orientation and more. And by sticking to their strengths, and not trying to be all things to all people, in head-to-head competition time and time again they have held their own. Meanwhile, in the never-ending search for profits, some banks have let themselves get distracted and ended up with “troubled assets” and a PR nightmare that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
So, while I drink in the intoxicating scent of victory (or is that Ben-Gay?) I want to urge my credit union friends: don’t stay out of the game just because your competitors seem bigger, stronger and better-equipped. The fact is that now may be the best chance you’ve ever had to grow and succeed with consumers who are tired of the superstars’ shtick. Be yourselves, play to your strengths, and grow while others are holding back. Like us old guys, you could turn out to be unbeatable!