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

[Colleen27]

You are trying to discredit top place earners by saying they must have more privilege. Working hard doesn’t equal results. Results is what matters in the adult world. Someone’s best isn’t always good enough and the sooner they realize that what they’re doing isn’t working then the sooner they can move on to something that they can excel at.

We're talking about kids here. Immature creatures who are developing at different paces, have different access to teaching, and take different amounts of time to master new skills. A great deal of the time being "better" is a function of being older, or maturing a bit more quickly, not of superior ability. Encouraging kids to stick it out when they enjoy an activity, rather than abandoning it at the first sign that "their best isn't good enough", teaches persistence and patience... two things that often matter even more than native talent in the adult world.

 

[RamblingMad]

We're talking about kids here. Immature creatures who are developing at different paces, have different access to teaching, and take different amounts of time to master new skills. A great deal of the time being "better" is a function of being older, or maturing a bit more quickly, not of superior ability. Encouraging kids to stick it out when they enjoy an activity, rather than abandoning it at the first sign that "their best isn't good enough", teaches persistence and patience... two things that often matter even more than native talent in the adult world.

Tony Hawk takes persistence to the next level. First, watch the Bone Brigade documentary. Then watch his documentary on HBO Max. Its pretty much the same story, but now everyone is so much older. And they're still at it.

 

[tcufrog]

I’ll throw in what I remember about my human growth and development classes. In the primary grades children respond to tangible rewards. Once they get to intermediate, around the age of 9, they are more internally motivated. I once had a parent of a 4th grader complain he never got stickers on his papers. I told her that by 4th grade the kids didn’t care as much about stickers, so I only gave them out occasionally. So for those saying trophies for little kids are ok, I think that fits the development of children and the reason why we give them out during that age range.

I also agree with the poster who said trophies, medals, etc are essentially the same thing, or can be. One year my son got a bobble head at the end of his knothole season. It’s just a token or a memento of his season.

My sister used to teach middle school and when she did, she had a huge collection of stickers she would put on work to acknowledge improvement or other good work. She was eventually transferred to a local high school. When she was grading high school work for the first time she started putting stickers on papers. Halfway through, she had second thoughts and put them away. She thought the high school students would think they were stupid and lame. When she handed them out though, the students who did well and didn't get a sticker were upset that they didn't give one and wanted to know why.

 

[DisneyOma]

I think participation trophies, medals, etc, are bad at all levels. Giving them to little kids sets the expectation that they will always get a medal and be recognized for participating. Not realistic. Special needs kids - same idea. When they get older, it's not going to be realistic to get a reward for doing what is expected. I work at a high school with a special olympics team. The kids think they win every year when they get their participation medal, just because locally, our town is first alphabetically, and so they get called up first. They go around showing people their "gold" medal, when it is not a gold medal. The teacher encourages this, which I think is sad. Someone is going to get upset when reality knocks on the door. There's a level of honesty and trust that needs to be maintained, IMO.

 

[DopeyDame]

I don't think for one second that it does anything significant to the kids development one way or the other. After age 6 or 7, kids are plenty aware of who won and who lost and who is good and who isn't. A trophy doesn't make them into special snowflakes. But also, it isn't going to instill magical persistence or perseverance in a kid who is upset that they lost or has decided they don't like the activity.
(Obviously special needs situations are different.)

So given that I truly believe they don't matter one way or another, it just seems like a tremendous waste of money, effort, and plastic. Id' far rather they just do ribbons or certificates.

 

[kymom99]

I think some people are way overthinking this. Not just on this thread, but in general. I can remember as my son got older he got things like a water bottle, etc. at the end of the season. Little kids get a kick out of the medals but as they get older they realize what they are for and most coaches give a more appropriate “gift” if they give one. I think the rec leagues around here give an amount for coaches to spend on incentives.

 

[Mysterian]

We never had them. Echoing what others have said: Ok for the tots, not so much for older kids who could use lessons in how failure is important to life. You cannot make any progress without some failure.

Just don't fail all the time, ok? Pep talk over!

Pro Tip: Hand out tacos for participation, that way nobody is left with clutter, and everyone gets tacos to eat.

There are no participatory awards in the Thunderdome. Two people enter, one person leaves.

 

[mrs. magoo]

I have 4 kids who played 4 sports for over 15 years each. They played soccer, lacrosse, basketball (multiple leagues) and swam for the YMCA. I have so many trophies - we got rid of a bunch of them - donated them to a local school that uses them for their special needs kids. Swimming was the worst, I can not tell you the number of best time ribbons my kids got - it was a bit over board. It was so much better when they got a t shirt at the end of the year. The kids on the team would sign the shirt - we tye dyed them as a team. It was fun and so much better than a trophy.

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.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

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.

Having no actual experience here on the subject I wonder if part of it was a chance to come down after all that activity with fuel (in the form of food) and social activity outside of the game time mindset.

I'm sure some parents just lamented the loss because they had a hungry just done with being very active kid on their hands while others were thinking about it less about having someone else feed their kid for them.

It was so much better when they got a t shirt at the end of the year. The kids on the team would sign the shirt - we tye dyed them as a team. It was fun and so much better than a trophy.

FWIW this could still be seen as a participation trophy because the main part is everyone on the team got it and it was extra and not dependent on skill level. I agree with another poster who mentioned how we look at it. To some trophy is an actual trophy but generally the usage of the phrase (which may not be what the OP was specifically thinking of the phrase vs the physical object) when used to look at it in a negative way is just to mean something given to all for their participation, ribbon, medal, trophy, whatever.

That t-shirt takes up space just as much as a ribbon, medal or trophy (more space really depending on the size of the shirt and the size of the other items) although they may get more usage out of it. It reminds me of the "senior" shirts we got in high school. It was a shirt that was paid with set aside class funds and all seniors were eligible for it but we got it simply because we were a senior. It was cool and all but yeah. When I was in 6th grade we had D.A.R.E shirts that were given to us for completing the program (of which none of us had a choice in not doing, it was just part of the school's curriculum at the time) and that could be seen as a participation trophy although because we had no choice maybe not on the same scale as voluntary stuff.

Not to take away from thinking it's a nice gesture to do the shirts and tye-dye, etc.

 

[NotUrsula]

I think that a "completion token" that recognizes the effort that was taken is a good thing, but a trophy? I think something small is best; my own experience is with pins or engraved necklace charms, which can make a nice (small!) framed "career history" if the person really had to work hard to get it accomplished. Also, as they are metal, they give a sense of permanence that you don't get with most pieces of paper or ribbons.

In my DD's sport, medals are the standard prize for top scorers, so we don't give them for participation. This particular sport is dominated by a few teams on the national level (they are now such powerhouses that people move where they are if they make the team), so everyone else basically settles for measuring success by national ranking. They do also have team jackets, and there are markings on the jackets that also *subtlety* indicate successes. (Honestly, these are used more to intimidate opponents rather than to be an award an athlete can show off, but the kids are fiercely proud of those jackets. The markings are kind of a code, so people on the street don't know what they mean, but other athletes in the sport sure do.)

A few competitions give trophies, but to teams, not to individuals. Many of them, in the same style as the Stanley Cup, are engraved with the name of that year's winner, and then passed on; those are the really great ones; where it becomes a public historical display.

FWIW, I'm going to give a little shout-out to a small business here, someone who has created a very fun little thing that is super-popular with our athletes, and they do them for other sports as well, and occasions like graduations. It's a small beaded wire charm about 2 inches long, that makes the figure of a person. They replicate a facsimile of the team uniform, and then add a face and general hairstyle to make it look enough like the person that it's a rough facsimile; kind of like a tiny puppet. Some kids put them on their bags or keychains, others have them framed in career sets. They are hand-made, so a bit expensive to give out to whole teams unless done as a fundraiser, but at about $20 each they seem reasonable to us as a memento of the effort of an entire year. The name of the company is Curly Girlz. (I won't post a link because that would be more like marketing. I have no affiliation with the company; I just know their product is a keepsake my kid actually treasures, and as it's a wee bit like a cartoon, they make all of us smile.)

 

[longboard55]

One of the many right wing talking points. Yes my daughter got a trophy when she played AYSO at age 7. So far no sign of permanent damage

 

[Buzz Rules]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the thread so far.

 

[ftbaker1313]

I think participation trophies are fine in the very beginning when you are teaching fundamentals. It always irritated me when I was coaching Tee ball and people would teach kids to swing up at the ball. That works to hit it farther off a tee, but teaches bad habits for hitting a pitched ball that can take years to correct. So with that rambling behind me I am fine with participation trophies under 10 or so.

 

[Moliphino]

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.

Oh man, the snacks were half the reason I played soccer as a kid (the other half was because my cousin was on the team). I was not all that interested in the actual game.

 

[mrs. magoo]

Oh man, the snacks were half the reason I played soccer as a kid (the other half was because my cousin was on the team). I was not all that interested in the actual game.

My girls were not interested either, but they did not need a snack at the end of a 60 minute practice. As a mom to 4 kids having a stupid snack rotation just added on to my scheduling. I would forget snack at least once a season and then kids would be crying about not getting a snack. For the 3 years I coached I put an end to it. The last year the parents put together a snack for after a game but I was insistent about practices and no snacks.

 

[sam_gordon]

It's been a tradition in our area for the younger soccer ages (say up to ~U8 or U10) for the parents to form a "tunnel" on the field and the kids (both teams) would run through. When my daughter's U15 team won the state semi-final the parents made a tunnel for the girls. They seemed to enjoy it.

 

[Orion Nebula]

I have an entire box of trophies, some good and some just because. I am glad I got them regardless of winning or not as it brings back good memories. Many that I would've forgotten about now that I am old. But I was pretty young when I got them, I can see it being a bit "meh" with older kids.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I’m fine with them for little kids, to hand out at the end of season pizza party. After that, nope.

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.

 

[Kennywood]

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.

 

[sam_gordon]

My son's HS soccer team has a BUNCH of end of season awards...

Most Goals
Most Assists
Defensive MVP
Offensive MVP
New Comer
Player's MVP
Coach's MVP

If any senior DOESN'T get one of the above awards, they get a "Senior Award", basically for participating. Somehow I don't think those who got the "Senior Award" think they're an MVP just because they received something.