Participation trophies, are they a good or bad thing in competitions?

[fly girl]

I am so glad participation trophies weren't a thing when I was in school. As I moved up in grades, I would see individuals at the sports awards banquets get the "Most Valuable Player" trophy. Over the years, as I watched that award being presented, I determined that I was going to earn that award one day. That goal motivated me to work hard and play hard. At the awards banquet my senior year, the hard work finally paid off. Although it's no longer the ultimate highlight of my life, I still have that trophy. It's a reminder to me to always strive for excellence.

YES! Me too. I didn't get my first (and only) trophy until I was a teenager. (prior I did swimming, gymnastics, dance and colorguard) and I saw trophies being given only to 1st place. I wanted a trophy badly ... queue in Jan Brady pining after Marcia's awards.



Hard work and team effort finally paid off. Only trophy I have, and still have buried somewhere in my storage space. But that was a huge sense of accomplishment.

 

[robinb]

What I will stand on a hill and die for is getting rid of snack after a game or practice. When I coached I put an end to this right quick. My parents were so angry at me but I was like your kid does not need a snack after running around for an hour and if they do need one feed them at your house. The kids were over it right quick their parents acted like I ruined summer soccer because I said no snacks.

You must have coached a better team. When my DD played soccer on a crappy team the team snack was the best part of practices and games. When you get you butt handed to you every week you need something to look forward to.

I always packed my own snacks for swim and dance practices. My DD needed them.

 

[slo]

You must have coached a better team. When my DD played soccer on a crappy team the team snack was the best part of practices and games. When you get you butt handed to you every week you need something to look forward to.

I always packed my own snacks for swim and dance practices. My DD needed them.

My reply is TOTALLY off topic….

When my DD23 played soccer, every team did the snacks after practice. This must be a normal soccer thing now that I’ve seen it posted about on here.

My DD18 has played softball for 11 years and never ever did her teams or other teams I know do snacks after practice.

Interesting how soccer normally does this in different places. I wonder if other sports do this? Sounds like a good poll for me one day .

Ok…back to the topic of the thread, of which I already put my 2 cents in - LOL!

 

[kymom99]

In my experience soccer was the only sport with a snack schedule. And that was only after games. For baseball parents occasionally treated to a drink from the concession stand although it wasn’t organized or expected. When I played softball my coach sometimes invited the team to the local ice cream shop after a win.

 

[tcufrog]

Last spring, DS11's grade had an awards ceremony, and parents were invited. One of the moms who came was so mad that her son didn't get an award, that she switched to another school for the following year. Supposedly, she had other complaints but that was the final straw. Most of the other parents were sad to see them leave because he was a jerk and she thought her son could do no wrong.

 

[GreatLakes]

In my experience soccer was the only sport with a snack schedule. And that was only after games. For baseball parents occasionally treated to a drink from the concession stand although it wasn’t organized or expected. When I played softball my coach sometimes invited the team to the local ice cream shop after a win.

For some reason youth soccer around me had halftime orange slices and post-game juice. I'm not sure why, neither were necessary for healthy children running around an hour, but they had them. So far the pre-smurf stuff my son has done remains snack free.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

I thought of this today, while listening to the news, which was heavy with reports on the Boston Marathon. (I live in NH, so close to the marathon) One news segment was on the participation medals that all runners receive. It was said how important these medals are to all of the runners, from the ones who finish in the front of the pack to the very last stragglers that finish!

I don't think the importance of these would be any different if they were trophies!!

My opinion? Hand out trophies or medals or whatever. My boys are grown now, they were both super athletic. Over the years they received both "participation" awards (like at the marathon today) individual awards and a few championship awards. I don't see the big deal about giving a kid (or an adult!) an award!

 

[Buzz Rules]

For some reason youth soccer around me had halftime orange slices and post-game juice. I'm not sure why, neither were necessary for healthy children running around an hour, but they had them. So far the pre-smurf stuff my son has done remains snack free.

Orange slices are traditional in soccer, juice is seen as a reward for effort.

 

[John VN]

Yep. I got one for the first LL team I played on, when I was 8. It was nice to be have a souvenir of that season. I didn't confuse it with actually accomplishing anything--our team stunk and I knew it. It's the only participation trophy I ever got, and that was fine by me.

I can recall a number of years after our Little League Season ended our team players all received a small baseball-player trophy---FOR PARTICIPATION even though we finished outside the TOP THREE. I was extremely happy to receive that small trophy and dreamed that maybe the next year if we did better maybe the HUGE foot tall trophy could be mine.

Participation Award = NOT A PROBLEM