Participation trophies for youth programs
- Thread starter Monello
- Start date
DEEKAYPEE8569
Well-Known Member
A trophy just for participating might be okay for kids under.....five years old. From age five on up, kids should learn that there can be winners and losers; and to not be sore losers if they lose. The other side of that; not being 'Ha! Ha! we're better'n you' types either.
kwillia
n/a
No. If a team wants to give out something for 'participation' it should be nothing more than a paper certificate. Trophies should be reserved for true accomplishments.
As a parent of a son that did t-ball and baseball and a daughter that did soccer, I have dozens of trophies in a box that have no memorial/emotional value nor do they reflect anything other than "my kid showed up". I say they have no memorial/emotional value because with each season both team and individual pictures are taken so if it's memories and proof of participation warm fuzzies one is looking for decades later one would pull out the scrapbook and look at pictures not dig through a box of trophies.
The second part to my vote of 'no' is that everyone getting equivalent recognition devalues those who truly have talent and excel whatever it is they are participating in. If you want a trophy, work harder.
As a parent of a son that did t-ball and baseball and a daughter that did soccer, I have dozens of trophies in a box that have no memorial/emotional value nor do they reflect anything other than "my kid showed up". I say they have no memorial/emotional value because with each season both team and individual pictures are taken so if it's memories and proof of participation warm fuzzies one is looking for decades later one would pull out the scrapbook and look at pictures not dig through a box of trophies.
The second part to my vote of 'no' is that everyone getting equivalent recognition devalues those who truly have talent and excel whatever it is they are participating in. If you want a trophy, work harder.
BadGirl
I am so very blessed
I think the trophies should go to the parents who schlup their kids around to all of those sporting/educational/civic events. They are the ones who ensure their kids eat dinner, do homework, take care of the animals, etc. in addition to driving all over creation to get their kids to these events. That takes talent.
kwillia
n/a
In that case screw the trophy... we should get certificates that can be traded in for manis, pedis, or back rubs!
BadGirl
I am so very blessed
I like the way you think.
DEEKAYPEE8569
Well-Known Member
.....and patience, and gas money. My Brother's kids (4) have each been on travel teams for one sport or the other since he and his wife got married. The name 'The Bus' that he gave to his Nissan Armada is fitting.
sockgirl77
Well-Known Member
No. They do this crap in flag football. That's half the reason the cost has doubled in the past 6 or 7 years. I HATE how these leagues have become. Pacifist liberals.
KDENISE977
New Member
I vote no, let them give out a certificate or a ribbon for participating... you earn a trophy.
sockgirl77
Well-Known Member
Not even a participation certificate or ribbon is needed.
Larry Gude
Strung Out
They're a good thing because they encourage a few more kids to get out there and give sports a try. They also encourage socializing behavior allowing more kids to be part of group settings that are public and positive; the pizza parties, the group settings of encouragement and coaching. They also help get more parents involved as well.
The earned trophies come along soon enough to where mom and dads lives revolve around the kids and travel and practice and coaching and so on and so forth so that the kid might get a break on tuition somewhere some day.
We offer all sorts of participation 'trophies' and certifications and so on and so forth for adults as part of career training that mean little, if any, more than "I showed up".
Bustem' Down
Give Peas a Chance
I think they can be good. My son played flag football, their team got to the championship game but lost. The coach got the team trophies, without which, my son probably wouldn't have played again. It helped keep him interested, he was 8 at the time. Now he can't get enough of football, he's still playing flag football, watching the preseason games is really excited about the sport. This is the first time he's every really been excited about a sport so I'm behind it. When he did karate he was all about it until he lost at a tournament, after that he didn't like it anymore. I kept him in it for a while, trying to teach him that you don't quit just because you didn't succeed, but he was hot and cold about it. I told him he could only quit karate if he picked something else so we got football now. You can teach your kid how to lose and be a good sport while still giving them a trophy.
littlelady
God bless the USA
I agree with you. My hub coached high school baseball for years (and softball when daughter was playing), but, also, coached little league on the side; and formed his own team called Calvert Heat. I don't know if anyone here has heard of that team. But, anyway, he would order little rings for them as being part of the team; whether they won, or lost. It was the idea of being a team. And, he always talked to them that participating was a microcosm of life in their little world; being so young. It wasn't that they won, or lost. It was love of the game.