Arezow's Blog

I was a kid and always got a participation trophy from practically all of my leagues. Everybody on the team knew it was not a real trophy. Nobody ever thought of themselves as great because they got a little cheap trophy at the end of the year, and NOBODY thought it was any kind of award. People always wanted a real trophy that you earned.

I think people who worry about these sort of things should relax, because I doubt any kid feels like he "won" anything based on these little trinkets.

The first problem is that they are playing soccer. Who gets the trophy when they tie.

Its ajoke to reward kids for losing. DOn't get me wrong, when ya lose, ya still 'win' because you learn to play the sport (or dance or whatever) AND you learn that in life, you will lose on occasion.

What will happen later in life when these kids go to work? Will they expect huge raises for just doing what is required, just getting by? They need to learn that life isn't all rewards.....start teaching them young. I learned that way and I am not any worse for the wear at 44.

The problem with giving rewards to kids for simple things like participating in a sport is that they can grow up expecting these same kinds of rewards/re-enforcement for things they should do like working hard. You might as well give out trophies for breathing.

ok, if you can breathe underwater, you do deserve a trophy! I'll even throw in a medal!

Just throw the "hard workers" a pizza party and give the winners a trophy. Problem solved. I remember when I moved away from home I threw away almost all of my "hard worker" trophies and kept all the real ones. Since then I think I threw away the real trophies as well.

Yes, they should have all kinds of trophies they can pass out in schools today to brighten those kid’s days up.

Fattest Kid
Smartest Kid
Average Kid
Dumbest Kid
Ugliest Kid
Best Looking Kid
Most Affluent Kid
Most Popular Kid
Most Unpopular Kid
Funniest Kid
Most Disgruntled Kid
Kid with the Biggest Feet
Kid with the Smallest Feet
Kid with the Biggest Hands
Kid with the Smallest Hands
Kid with longest Hair
Kid with Shortest Hair

The list could go on and one so they could have an awards ceremony every day at the beginning of school.

Even the Fattest Kid would be roaming the halls saying “Hey Hey Hey I’m the fattest fat Albert today”!!

It would be so fun and I am sure there would be peace and harmony in the schoolyards again.

One just has to look how that train of thought works for the Democrat party.

They even chose their most unpopular kid and most disgruntled kid to run for president so they can get that same kind of train of thought without any debate at all passed into laws.

We are not doing our children any justice by rewarding them for simple participation. Even at the ages of 3-5, the kids know who wins & who doesn't (even when the score isn't being kept, which is an entirely separate topic). Kind words of praise & encouragement is what should be given for participation. If you feel the need to give them something materialistic - how about a ribbon?

Look at the big picture - we are setting them up for failure & disappointment later in life. It's time to stop thinking that by coddling our children that we are in some way helping them.

I for one, am tired of the other parents who feel that all of these rewards are necessary. You will notice that these are the same parents that try to "reason" with a child, let their children "express themselves" in inappropriate places/settings, etc.

Give it a rest - we compete for test scores, colleges, teams, jobs, even for our mates. Face it - life itself is a competition and we aren't rewarded simply for existing.

All,

Does the media really need to spend time and resources analyzing this topic? Bringing in psychologist? You gotta be kidding! I would bet that one person, and only one person, called the station and brought this to their attention after their season over something trivial.

Look….there is nothing wrong with giving kids a $5 trophy at the end of a lengthy season filled with practices and games. Parents invest and pay much money for these leagues. A trophy….Sheez…Let the kids have some fun! It is not a competition, these are recreational leagues. That means FUN, ever heard of it? For crying out loud, they are off the couch and playing outside, being with other people, having a good time.

You get recognized at work with bonuses and awards. Some of you get rewarded every week with a paycheck just for showing up, or should I say, just for “participating” / showing-up for work while spending half the day surfing and other non-work activities.

Leave the kids and the trophies alone and go analyze more important topics related to kids and families. You know what I mean?….something worthwhile that will support families versus knocking them down with silly reports on trophies. Go analyze the lack of training of coaches in leagues, out of control parents, “redshirting” your kindergartner, abuse of funds by these leagues, and the parent mentality that you have to win in a recreational league.

Now…let’s all get back to work and do some good for your company, your spouse, your kids, and your family.

Pay it forward….

The subject under investigation was "about our kids being rewarded"---NOT if parents are qualified to coach, however given YOUR assumptions, blind judgements ("many of these bloggers do not have children, nor coach..."), and rude name calling "FAT"...not to mention your screwed-up idealogy that we should all be training our children to go off and fight in wars (that sounds pretty extreme...especially considering the illegal war we're caught up in now to which we're losing young innocent lives) I can say I'm glad your not my child's coach!

I doubt anyone would even bother blogging here if they did NOT have kids involved in this matter.
I won't make any harsh baseless judgements, but will say, I hope you're not one of these coaches that focus only on winning, coaching on aggressive pushy moves that hurt their opponents instead of good skills, and encourage winning over playing well. Also leaving the less skilled "fat" (as you call them) players on the sidelines, and only playing the better players, even though NASA rules require EVERY player to play equal ammount of time. And I sure hope your a better role model to your team than you've left the impression by your blog here. By the way, it's not about "you" it's about them, the children, the players!!