James Harrison Message

My point is everyone here saying you should only get a prize for winning, not losing. Also it is the same thing. They earned prize money for placing. The kids earned trophies for showing up and getting off their asses
 
My point is everyone here saying you should only get a prize for winning, not losing. Also it is the same thing. They earned prize money for placing. The kids earned trophies for showing up and getting off their asses

Which isn't trophy worthy IMO.

Prize money is earned. You don't just get it for showing up, you have to work for it. Not even remotely the same thing.
 
For alot of young kids getting them to show up for the whole season is the whole point of the league. That is worth the prize. One of his kids is 6...6 is nearly too young to even understand the rules of most organized team sports. How can you reward winning/losing when they dont even understand wtf is going on
 
For alot of young kids getting them to show up for the whole season is the whole point of the league. That is worth the prize. One of his kids is 6...6 is nearly too young to even understand the rules of most organized team sports. How can you reward winning/losing when they dont even understand wtf is going on

Because #values lol.
 
My point is everyone here saying you should only get a prize for winning, not losing. Also it is the same thing. They earned prize money for placing. The kids earned trophies for showing up and getting off their asses

It's not the same thing at all. Tiger Woods showed up to the event, played like crap, and didn't get anything for his troubles.
 
James Harrison Message

At this point I'm sorry I even saw this.

Some of the comments here are absolutely ridiculous .

Should give back his money for second place ?

Great example ....


He EARNED that money. It would be 100% different if he got just as much as the guy who finished DFL.

You actually managed to prove your counterpoint .



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You don't understand which goal to kick it in but dammnit you didn't win so you suck
 
The it resorts to this ^^^^^^^


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At this point I'm sorry I even saw this.

Some of the comments here are absolutely ridiculous .

Should give back his money for second place ?

Great example ....


He EARNED that money. It would be 100% different if he got just as much as the guy who finished DFL.

You actually managed to prove your counterpoint .



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Harrison's kids earned those trophies.
 
For alot of young kids getting them to show up for the whole season is the whole point of the league. That is worth the prize. One of his kids is 6...6 is nearly too young to even understand the rules of most organized team sports. How can you reward winning/losing when they dont even understand wtf is going on

At 6 the kid should understand which goal to kick it in.. If not, the parents need to explain it to them. They are certainly capable of understanding which goal, which base to run to, how to score, etc.
 
At 6 the kid should understand which goal to kick it in.. If not, the parents need to explain it to them. They are certainly capable of understanding which goal, which base to run to, how to score, etc.

LOL please tell me more about 6 year olds :D
 
Harrison's kids earned those trophies.

We will never agree on this. I never kept participation trophies, heck when I was 12 we lost in the championship of a big national baseball tournament and I thew my 2nd place trophy in the trash in the dugout. I turned out ok.. It isn't a good idea to teach kids you get rewarded for simply showing up.. If I just "showed up" to my job, you know what my reward would be? I would be unemployed.
 
From reviewing the posts, it seems like there is a pretty well-defined line between those who are okay with participation trophies for kids and those who aren't.

The group that thinks it's a societal problem don't tend to have children, especially small children.

It doesn't fall completely on those lines. I know at least one heartless parent living in Jersey who posts in this thread. :alien act-up don't ban me:

But, I find it interesting that many seeing a huge, societal problem with this don't have little kids.
 
LOL please tell me more about 6 year olds :D

I coached a T-Ball team when I was in high school, and the kids understood which base to run to, they knew how to hit the ball, and where to throw it. Is that uncommon? I certainly didn't have a team full of MVPs, and many of the would have rather picked "flowers" in the outfield, but they knew the basic rules.
 
I coached a T-Ball team when I was in high school, and the kids understood which base to run to, they knew how to hit the ball, and where to throw it. Is that uncommon? I certainly didn't have a team full of MVPs, and many of the would have rather picked "flowers" in the outfield, but they knew the basic rules.

After you taught them - which is what they league was for right? Or maybe their last coach.
 
You don't understand which goal to kick it in but dammnit you didn't win so you suck

I think you are blowing this way out of proportion. I don't think anyone here is saying a kid should be punished for not coming in 1st. They are just saying that a kid doesn't need to get rewarded for just showing up. They should absolutely be praised, told they did a good job and even given a memento from the game. But they don't need to get a trophy, and they do need to learn that they tried hard, but in order to get better they have to practice and keep trying. They need something to strive for, something to push them to want to do better. Not just told good job, here's your trophy, it's ok if you never try because someone will always give you a trophy just for being there.

There is a happy medium, and I think you are missing the point here.

I will add that I do believe the age of a child does play a role.
 
LOL please tell me more about 6 year olds :D
I just had a flashback to some of the younger girls on the team I recently coached. It made me laugh. If I had a dollar for every time I had to coach a kid to not play or draw in the dirt while positioned on the infield I could probably pick up a new GBB driver this week.
 
You don't understand which goal to kick it in but dammnit you didn't win so you suck

You don't even understand which goal to kick it in, so you should get an award for it?

Interesting...
 
After you taught them - which is what they league was for right? Or maybe their last coach.

Certainly, I think what I am getting at is that at 6 they are capable of understanding the rules. I don't have kids, and maybe that makes me unqualified to have an opinion on the matter, I honestly don't know. I know that in life there are winners and losers, and it is ok. I would NEVER punish anyone for losing, but people have to learn what it feels like not to be rewarded all the time, because when you aren't it sucks.
 
I would agree if it was about competetive sport. But at the age groups we are talking about that is not the case. Most of the kids on each team at 6 years old will never play high school sports. They are their to get exercise, be outside, socialize. If giving a trophy at the end of the season makes it more likely that they will come back next year....I am all for it.
 
I just had a flashback to some of the younger girls on the team I recently coached. It made me laugh. If I had a dollar for every time I had to coach a kid to not play or draw in the dirt while positioned on the infield I could probably pick up a new GBB driver this week.



My favorite was having to "coach" the kids on my daughter's soccer team to not stand around talking to each other during the game and (even better) that you shouldn't hold hands with teammates while playing.

Little kids' sports are the most entertaining, though, in my opinion.
 
Certainly, I think what I am getting at is that at 6 they are capable of understanding the rules. I don't have kids, and maybe that makes me unqualified to have an opinion on the matter, I honestly don't know. I know that in life there are winners and losers, and it is ok. I would NEVER punish anyone for losing, but people have to learn what it feels like not to be rewarded all the time, because when you aren't it sucks.

Of course they are. Again though - that's the point of rec leagues. To teach them the game, sportsmanship and to get them to come back. As in, it's actually written in the handbook that coaches get. The kids know the score - every single one of them knew it. Doesn't change the point of the league and getting a little something at the end doesn't change what they learned along the way

I think there's this big misperception that this is just a normal thing as kids get older. Most keep score once you get out of beginner leagues - you played sports a little over 10 years ago, so you know.
 
Is it because its a "trophy" people are against it? If it was a tshirt that had the league name and year ... would that be OK?

I can not tell you one life lesson I learned playing little league sports in the early 60's ... of course I don't remember much of the 60's or 70's :act-up:
 
Of course they are. Again though - that's the point of rec leagues. To teach them the game, sportsmanship and to get them to come back. As in, it's actually written in the handbook that coaches get. The kids know the score - every single one of them knew it. Doesn't change the point of the league and getting a little something at the end doesn't change what they learned along the way

I think there's this big misperception that this is just a normal thing as kids get older. Most keep score once you get out of beginner leagues - you played sports a little over 10 years ago, so you know.
To piggy back on Hawk's point, my son just migrated out of the "don't keep score, learn the game, everyone plays the same amount (league enforced), have fun" level of basketball to the competitive version last year. They were disappointed when they lost in the playoffs. They understood they didn't get trophies because they weren't as good as the other teams. Parents told the kids they needed to work harder next time, etc. During the season when some kids played more than others some of us parents got teaching moments where we could explain to our kids that they needed to practice more, offer to work with them, etc. At the end of season party the coaches gave the kids mock certificates, which poked fun at some of their 'skills.' Everyone survived.
 
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Is it because its a "trophy" people are against it? If it was a tshirt that had the league name and year ... would that be OK?

Yeah I think so. A trophy signifies achievement, where a shirt or a team photo doesn't. And the problem with that is telling people they achieved somethings when simply showing up isn't much of an achievement.
 
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