18th MDG three-time intramural sports champions Published May 12, 2014 By Senior Airman Hailey Staker 18th Wing Public Affairs KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- The 18th Medical Group intramural basketball team won the championship game May 8 here. Not only has the basketball team won this title, the group has also won the title in both softball and flag football. "We had a good group of guys and most men are into sports, that's something they like to do so being able to accomplish something at your level is always fun," said Staff Sgt. Milo Otis, 18th MDG medical materiel craftsman and basketball team coach. "It gives you something to look forward to outside of the everyday grind." Sports are a way to stay in shape, boost morale and work together as a team to accomplish a set goal: to win a championship. Otis said service members must be fit to play sports, but they also must be fit to be able to deploy. "In an event, you want to be able to perform at a high level, you want to be as fit as possible in sports and that coincides with the military. You want to be fit so you can always be ready to take care of whatever mission comes up," Otis said. Otis said that being able to work as a team is important for sports, especially when teams have many players but can only play a few at a time. "I think it was definitely big for basketball. We had a lot of guys that wanted to play this year and even in situations where we couldn't necessarily get everybody in, we still had a good team mentality," Otis said. "People weren't so much asking to play, the main goal everyone kind of focused on was 'let's just win.' "Teamwork is always big in any sport--football or softball too," Otis continued. "We were able to just get more guys involved because you need more players to play those sports. So being a team player is important, it just showed a little more in basketball. I've never been a part of this kind of thing like the three main wins, so I'm happy to be a part of it. It's kind of cool." Congratulations again to the 18th MDG for their three consecutive sports championship wins.