Whether cranking microfilm, scouring books, creating elaborate family trees or perusing online databases until the wee hours of the morning, genealogists typically spend a great deal of time in solitude. But truth be told, we can't always find the documents or other information we need on our own. Genealogy isn't like tennis or running-it's a contact sport. We need research buddies to encourage us, experts to help us unravel family mysteries and kindly volunteers to do long-distance lookups, just as a basketball team needs a coach to orchestrate plays, players to execute them and fans to cheer on the team.

If you've ever played basketball or any other organized sport, you've probably heard your coach utter the clicheé: “There's no I in team.” Now you can use that as a mantra for your family history research. Not sure who to pick for your genealogy squad? We'll help you discover 17 all-stars every family historian needs. So slip on your sneakers and grab your research binder: It's time for tipoff.