LOS ANGELES -- The Pistol Shrimps still can't buy a basket.

With halftime closing in, they've yet to score in their first game of the spring season. The players are slightly dejected, but still cheerful and upbeat. Shouts of "We'll make that shot next time!" and "Great look!" emanate from the bench in this gym in North Hollywood.

They're losing, badly, which isn't uncommon. But they're doing it with smiles on their faces.

These are the unlikely saviors of women's rec league basketball in Los Angeles. They're funny, irreverent, and not all that great at the sport they love. But in the year they've been in the spotlight -- featured in magazines, shouted-out on TV and followed by thousands on social media -- they've shown just how seriously empowering the opportunity to play can be.

Tara Brydle inbounds the ball during the first half of a game against the Ballin Broads. D'Arcy Maine/espnW

***

In the winter of 2013, actress and writer Maria Blasucci saw signs around Los Angeles advertising the city's Department of Recreation and Parks basketball league. She hadn't played in more than 10 years, but she thought the league would be a great way to get exercise and hang out with friends.

She asked around to see if she could get enough people interested. Promising ice cream or pizza after every game, she was able to quickly build a team filled mainly with women in the entertainment industry.

"The first email from Maria said something like 'Anyone wanna start a basketball team? We could, like, play for a few hours and then get milkshakes after,'" recalled team member and actress Molly Hawkey. "And pretty much everyone responded with, 'I love milkshakes!' I was, of course, immediately interested. Getting to hang out with a group of cool girls and have snacks? That sounded nice to me."

The women brought in friends Mark Smith and Chris Vanger to teach them the basics of the game, as most of them had little to no experience on the hardwood. Actress Aubrey Plaza, best known for her role as the sarcastic and deadpan April Ludgate on NBC's "Parks and Recreation," heard about the team through friends.

Coaches Mark Smith and Chris Vanger draw up a new play during practice at Poinsettia Park. D'Arcy Maine/espnW

"I was playing pickup games with guys and one of them told me there was a legit girls' league in L.A. and that I should try and be a part of it," Plaza said. "I was excited to play with all girls because playing basketball and being the only girl can be kind of a different experience."

But when the women tried to register their team, which they named the Pistol Shrimps after the very real sea creature, they were told they were the only women's team that had signed up and the season would be cancelled -- just as it had been for several seasons prior.

Rose Watson, the director of public information for L.A.'s Recreation and Parks Department, said there hadn't been a women's municipal league in the city since 2009 due to lack of interest. "The popularity of women's sports goes through phases here," she said. "Something like basketball will be popular for a while and then people's availability changes and it isn't anymore."

With more than 15 men's leagues in various gyms throughout the city, the team couldn't believe women had nowhere to play.

"We had been practicing for months and got really excited and went to sign up for the league and then they told us there was no league," remembered team member, writer and model Melissa Stetten. "Even though they had advertised for one, they said 'Sorry, there are no other teams to play with.' But we had been so intensely practicing and were just so excited that we were like, 'No, there is going to be a league.'"

Melissa Stetten, Tara Brydle, Jesse Thomas, Molly Hawkey and Paisley Grey take a selfie after practice. D'Arcy Maine/espnW

Watson insisted there was no formal plan to cancel the league but there simply wasn't enough interest to actually start one. No matter the language, the Pistol Shrimps had an uphill battle on their hands if they wanted to play organized ball. They sent out more emails, to women they knew and women referred to them by the city, and quickly recruited enough players to form six more teams.

The league would live.

***

L.A.'s Open Women's Division -- so-named because unlike the more populated men's leagues, it isn't divided by skill or location -- plays on Tuesday nights. In the Pistol Shrimps' first season, the spring of 2014, they compiled a 3-9 record at the Lake Street Community Center, with two of those victories forged against the winless Lucille Ballers. The Shrimps' losses were frequently double-digit affairs, due in large part to their lack of experience.

With just a few months off between seasons, the women returned for the fall schedule in September and compiled another 3-9 record, including a playoff appearance. Their celebrity status grew along with their game, thanks in large part to Plaza's involvement and frequent posts about the team on its Twitter and Instagram accounts.





In a league that once seemed bound for extinction, Pistol Shrimps games became something of a scene, with actual fans. Team member Angela Trimbur started a dance team to provide halftime entertainment. A feature in GQ and a cover story in the LA Weekly soon followed, as did a sponsorship with Southern California-based water company Aquahydrate. The team also produced a series of videos -- including a fake Burger King commercial from 1996 -- that quickly went viral.

The league grew, too. The spring 2015 season kicked off in April with 24 teams.

"It kind of seems like everyone had the same idea and has wanted to be a team for a long time, but no one was able to pull the trigger and get it started before," said team member and Starbucks manager Tara Brydle. "Then Maria did and everything just fell into place."

The restoration of the league has definitely had an effect on the women who play in it.

"It's been such a confidence builder," said Hawkey. "It's so great for self-esteem. When I first started I was so concerned with what my butt looked like and how the spandex made me look, but then one day I looked around and was like, 'We all look like s--- and it feels great.' We're all beautiful women.

"This just makes me feel so strong and confident. More than I ever have before. My body hasn't changed, I still have cellulite, but I still feel more beautiful and I just walk so much taller."

***

The Shrimps' first practice of 2015 is on a warm, perfect Saturday morning in Los Angeles -- like most mornings in Los Angeles. Eight members of the team are practicing layups at Poinsettia Park. The Hollywood sign beams in the hills, situated like a postcard in the background. The women's cut-off shirts and sweatbands seem like a stark contrast to the area's well-documented glamour.