Trophies or awards just for participation and Is it damaging the youth of today?

Smellyman said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

Smellyman said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

Smellyman said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

Smellyman said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

Smellyman said:

you know what is bad for kids, tablets, phones, tv, netflix, hulu, constant movies playing in cars, at home, standing.....playstations, xboxs, dressing like little GQ models (remember when one tshirt and one pair of shorts lasted you a summer) So many bullshit things. Not to mention the truly fucked up issues like school shootings, wars, pedo's, etc.

You know what is not bad for kids? getting a freaking particiaption ribbon/certificate/trophy for actually doing things......


get a grip people. You are not tough as nails now because as a youth you weren't coddled with a freaking ribbon.

Having a parent say, "I'm so proud of you" trumps a trophy anytime.

so that doesn't happen if they get a trophy? It's not an either/or thing.

You're missing the point. It's not about trophies.

The rewards for 'participation' are inherent in a well structured sporting experience. Trophies make praise, support and encouragement cheap and meaningless in my mind.

Thanks for the praise Dad....I guess......but I already got a ribbon.

Thanks for the praise Dad... but where's my trophy?

Thanks for the praise dad......crap, he's out getting drunk again and banging hookers.

Huh?

I'm not sure how this scenario supports what you are asserting... or debunks what I am saying?

some kids have dads out getting drunk and banging hookers and get no praise. I thought it was a simple concept.

Well duh. No shit.

My point was that introducing this scenario does nothing to advance the discussion one way or another. Some kids don't have a dad at all. Some kids have two mothers. Some kids have no parents at all. These facts are meaningless when discussing whether or not participation trophies are appropriate for minor sport.

I still contend that the experience is the reward. When a child is motivated extrinsically (pizza after every practice or shiny trophies)... I think that is a problem.

Edit: I can't keep my mouth shut.

Cliffy6745 said:

Glad to see we are taking parenting advice from someone who hit the mother of his child.

My take. Who cares if 7 year olds get 3 inch trophies of participating. The winners always got bigger ones, so it wasn't like there wasn't a sense of competition or rewards for winning. It also stops at some point. I got trophies for participation in my YMCA basketball league when i was like 8. By the time I was playing competitively, no one is getting participation trophies.

This conversation always seems like an old "get off my lawn" conversation.

Edit: I also can't imagine parents caring all that much about winning for kids playing sports from 7-10.

I do need to say you are sadly mistaken for your edited comment.

Parents of kids even younger than the ages you addressed are out of their minds. I know as a parent of two children who advanced through elite 'rep' sporting experiences.

Not only was winning paramount... rivalries developed between kids' parents on the same team. Coaches were blamed for playing preferences or playing kids at the wrong positions.

It was brutal.

MayDay10 said:

someone on ESPN mentioned "Senior Day". Typically a college team or high school team take their last home game and honor the Seniors. Even if they never won anything, and even if they do not see playing time. Is that the same thing and should it be frowned on by meatheads like James Harrison?

I think 'senior day' is a celebration. It reflects accomplishment: dedication to the sport and to a program.

Although kind of the same... it's a little different in my mind.

when I was in little league... for a few years we had Pizza Hut certificates that each team would give 1 every game to the "MVP".

from what I remember. It was spread out as much as possible. The good players would get theirs when they had a good game... but even the 'stinky' kids would get included... even if someone pitched and threw a 2 hitter, they would maybe give it to a kid who got his 1st hit of the season who strikes out 90% of the time, or happened to stick his/her glove up and accidentally snag a line drive. Everyone understood it and it was fine. They couldn't just give them to the good players who go 3 for 4 every game and say 'screw you' to the weaker kids. There was almost no possible way those kids could catch up and simply 'get better' than those who over-matched them.
I think it created a good atmosphere of sharing and encouragement.

Cliffy6745 said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Glad to see we are taking parenting advice from someone who hit the mother of his child.

My take. Who cares if 7 year olds get 3 inch trophies of participating. The winners always got bigger ones, so it wasn't like there wasn't a sense of competition or rewards for winning. It also stops at some point. I got trophies for participation in my YMCA basketball league when i was like 8. By the time I was playing competitively, no one is getting participation trophies.

This conversation always seems like an old "get off my lawn" conversation.

Edit: I also can't imagine parents caring all that much about winning for kids playing sports from 7-10.

I do need to say you are sadly mistaken for your edited comment.

Parents of kids even younger than the ages you addressed are out of their minds. I know as a parent of two children who advanced through elite 'rep' sporting experiences.

Not only was winning paramount... rivalries developed between kids' parents on the same team. Coaches were blamed for playing preferences or playing kids at the wrong positions.

It was brutal.

More or less my point. I should have said sane parents. That seems like a much bigger issue to me than some flimsy trophy.

Well you won't get an argument from me there then. And I agree that there are much bigger issues with minor sport than participation trophies.

Hey... by speaking against participation ribbons or trophies, I'm not suggesting we ruthlessly drive our 6 year olds to success. I'm saying we need to structure sports and have the right supports in place so that kids develop a passion for their sport intrinsically versus extrinsically.

Many studies have conclusively shown that when people are more motivated from personal satisfaction than external rewards. Kids need to be told- in many different ways- that their contributions to the team have been valuable and they are significant members of their team. They need to develop a sense of self worth through repeated and well-constructed feedback that empowers them and motivates them to continue to develop and work hard.

Leading a kid to the van with a trail of smarties is a lot different than having the kid in the van yelling at their folks to 'hurry up' so they can get to practice.

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Thirty Bills Unpaid said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Glad to see we are taking parenting advice from someone who hit the mother of his child.

My take. Who cares if 7 year olds get 3 inch trophies of participating. The winners always got bigger ones, so it wasn't like there wasn't a sense of competition or rewards for winning. It also stops at some point. I got trophies for participation in my YMCA basketball league when i was like 8. By the time I was playing competitively, no one is getting participation trophies.

This conversation always seems like an old "get off my lawn" conversation.

Edit: I also can't imagine parents caring all that much about winning for kids playing sports from 7-10.

I do need to say you are sadly mistaken for your edited comment.

Parents of kids even younger than the ages you addressed are out of their minds. I know as a parent of two children who advanced through elite 'rep' sporting experiences.

Not only was winning paramount... rivalries developed between kids' parents on the same team. Coaches were blamed for playing preferences or playing kids at the wrong positions.

It was brutal.

More or less my point. I should have said sane parents. That seems like a much bigger issue to me than some flimsy trophy.

Well you won't get an argument from me there then. And I agree that there are much bigger issues with minor sport than participation trophies.

Hey... by speaking against participation ribbons or trophies, I'm not suggesting we ruthlessly drive our 6 year olds to success. I'm saying we need to structure sports and have the right supports in place so that kids develop a passion for their sport intrinsically versus extrinsically.

Many studies have conclusively shown that when people are more motivated from personal satisfaction than external rewards. Kids need to be told- in many different ways- that their contributions to the team have been valuable and they are significant members of their team. They need to develop a sense of self worth through repeated and well-constructed feedback that empowers them and motivates them to continue to develop and work hard.

Leading a kid to the van with a trail of smarties is a lot different than having the kid in the van yelling at their folks to 'hurry up' so they can get to practice.

I obviously don't disagree with any of this.

Cliffy6745 said:

I guess getting trophies this way is better?

http://deadspin.com/little-league-world-series-scandal-softball-team-throw-1724733555

utterly embarrassing behavior by the coaches. they should not be allowed to coach again and i think the team should forfeit out of the tournament too. and yea i know some are going to say it's not the girls fault which there is some truth to but they were involved. consequences for their actions.

pjhawks said:

Cliffy6745 said:

I guess getting trophies this way is better?

http://deadspin.com/little-league-world-series-scandal-softball-team-throw-1724733555

utterly embarrassing behavior by the coaches. they should not be allowed to coach again and i think the team should forfeit out of the tournament too. and yea i know some are going to say it's not the girls fault which there is some truth to but they were involved. consequences for their actions.

Throwing a game is brutal.

Having already secured a spot in the championship... this team would have been well within its rights to play reserves who hadn't seen much time prior to this game and start pitchers who likely might not pitch in the final.

Having said that... the team that takes the field and all managerial decisions moving forward from any personnel decision should have been made with the spirit of competition in mind.

Smellyman said:

Nice job loser!

:rofl:

Smellyman said:

Nice job loser!

This is about all that needs to be said in this thread. How can we look at this as a bad thing?
I think we're all arguing semantics. It's stupid to give a 15 year old a participation trophy. The lessons are learned by then. I don't see how giving a giving a small trophy to a young kid, while giving a different reward to the winners is an issue.
Do you guys stand outside birthday parties screaming at little kids "NICE GOODIE BAGS YOU ENTITLED LITTLE FUCKS!!!! IT'S NOT YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!"