I think if you get one you’re probably a bucket head loser that wasn’t gonna win anyways
But I also believe in celebrating the fact that you tried.
Trying matters

Vs. being a spectator in the stands.

That say participant.

...*is* (in-effect) the trophy.

Always tossed my trophies and other stuff after a bit (they were all plastic anyway). Most valuable physical things to me were the uniform I wore, and photos of the team.

I remember seeing Marbury's trophy case as a kid (he was a year ahead of me I think) and wondered what he was gonna do with all that crap: https://cdn-s3.si.com/s3fs-public/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/1203/stephon.marbury.rare.photos/images/marbury-trophies.jpg


Edit: Plus, I was mad competitive as a kid and used to cry when I lost ball tournaments so the consolation prize wasn't going to help. Would probably help some kids tho.

and felt how cheap they were.. I was mad as shit.

Always thought they were real gold (I was like 5 or 6) or metal but most of them were cheap plastic.

Always thought medals and ribbons were fly tho because you could wear them and stunt.

...so when I got my first plastic one I felt jipped, lol.

Real talk, the thing I valued the most have been the jerseys from whatever league I was playing in. I still have a few that haven't worn out from my high school Positive Image/Total Response and Sonny Hill Days.

And they seem to be wild bitter about participation trophies. Like “I didn’t get one when I was a loser and neither should anyone else”
And I can’t help but think they maybe if someone had took the time with them when they were smaller to celebrate trying as opposed to just wins, they wouldn’t be such bitter, losers in adulthood.

I won a lot as a kid. I’ve only been part of like two loser ass teams in all of my years. And I’m just now really learning the value of trying. I think there has to be better language than just “not everything is about winning”. I think participation trophies are a good step forward for that.

They never played competitive sports, joined a band, played chess, Madden, Street Fighter 2, Tekken, raced someone, arm wrestled, etc.


Can't even get a participation trophy if they don't bother to participate.

use to be like nah, that' dumb. but once my kids got going, I realized its not a big deal.

small kids love getting ribbons/trinkets. if you can smile at getting 8th place, have at it.

as they get older, they know where they fall. the ribbons won't hurt their motivation to get better, if that's what they want to do and have the skill for.

Kids aren't asking for them. The parents give them out.

I've never heard of a kid getting a participation trophy and thinking that instantly made them good at said activity. The kid who hit .058 during the Little League season isn't getting his/her ego blown up by one. They can easily tell the pecking order of skills even at those ages.

because they don’t want to deal with their kids being sad about not having a trophy.

Growing up I never got upset when we didn’t win and watched the other team get trophies. Shit was like the Bad News Bears.

Fuck y’all, we gonna win it next year.

We never did.. but we damn sure tried.

in other contexts.


they are.

this is not the case.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

because only a shithead would get mad about a child getting a trophy.


also, it's usually a hypothetical and not even a real situation. they're mad about their own imagination, it's fucking hilarious

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Unless they're saying everyone gets a first place trophy, or we're not keeping score. as long as there's some distinction i don't see the problem with them.

but a lot of arguments against are based on PT's being a slippery slope to those things, or a story about some ultra progressive school where they don't keep score

overall it's whatever though. some kids will be happy they tried, others will still see them as Ls and be like fuck that, i wanna win.

Every two weeks.
People are really mad that they’re a thing.

I mean that they're bitched about too much, and too often referenced as a big part of everything wrong with younger generations

They know if they won or lost regardless if they get a trophy or not. And most know that losing sucks

I remember getting a little trophy after my team got worked in a basketball tourney (circa third grade). We were pissed. We didn't want them shits lol.
Half of us just left them at the gym.

I'm all for rewarding effort. But I doubt the trophies do much to get that across

didn't really think much about them at the time. it was cool to have a memory of the season. and they were smaller and less impressive than the trophies the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place teams got. if anything it just sparked us to try harder so we could get the bigger, cooler, trophies. ended up coming in 2nd place the season after and got a bigger trophy and felt pretty proud.

if only I had the time & energy to pursue and develop it....

these have existed with kids sports since I was a kid and ive seen my dads too. So long before me. You sign up for a season of rec league ball. At the end of the year there is a pizza party. The team gets together and you all get trophies, pictures, and the coach gets a plaque or some shit. My dad got them for playing in his YMCA sports league. If you finished top 3 you got a trophy for that. But this has always been a thing. Its no big deal. Heaven forbid kids get excited about having a trophy with their name on them one time in their lives. Even if all they did was chase butterflies in Right Field all season. Sure it might mean more to some kids than others. Its not a new thing that THIS generation started. Get over that shit. Find something else to complain about.

Was trying to remember what they said but I remember ribbons being given out for things like that.

My first year of little league I got a 3rd place trophy. I was so fucking happy because it was the first trophy I ever got, and my friends had been piling them up since t-ball. There were more competitive kids that would've thrown it away, but it's not like I had any delusions that we won the season. It was meaningful to me. More than any that came after.

Thus far they are designed to be learning and development leagues. No official score is taken as of yet, but everyone keeps score and the kids definitely know if they win or lose. There's a medal at the end of the season for everyone.

Next season it starts getting real. Scores are kept and there's an end of the year tournament etc. I have no issue with how the leagues have gone thus far, or the participation medals. The kids like em. It's really not a big deal.

I am cool with an end of season celebration, but the handing out of trophies isn't necessary.

My kid came up playing YMCA and youth league sports and we have a shelf FULL of trophies, medals, ribbons...etc. They just collect dust. I even heard him joking with his friends about the soccer trophies he got, and all he did was run up and down the field.

Now that my son is in high school you can tell the difference. Last year he lettered in varsity lacrosse as a freshman. THAT he cherishes. We're in the midst of ordering him a letter jacket now, and he's chomping at the bit.

I kept space reserved at the front for won trophies. Didn't stay empty long once we started playing tournaments.

like a complete waste

all the t-shirts we were giving for participating in shit just go to waste

i'm cool with it in theory bc yea, sure...trying is a big...well, it's trying and sometimes that's commendable

but a team pic was always my...we tried keepsake...i've likely thrown the rest away or just held on to it until a purge

i definitely lean against them more than for them just out of pragmatism

...my kids both have a number of these massive participation trophies from taekwondo, soccer and basketball ..they could care less about them and both asked to move them out of their rooms because they take up some much space.

..meanwhile i had just a few trophies earned as a kid from sports, but they were for specific things like winning championship games or making an all star team. Those were meaningful to me and i was proud of them.