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James Yohe

Mrs. Cramer

English Comp 1 Pd. 7

7 December 2018

Is it Right for Children to Receive Participation Trophies in Sports?

A recent argument among parents has everyone weighing in on participation trophies in

youth sports. Kids that participate in youth sports are rewarded for their participation during the

season with a trophy, or a medal for playing that year. To some people, this is teaching our

children that just showing up is enough to win an award, and that this is teaching our kids the

wrong way of how society works. However, some people feel as though the child’s effort is

being applauded, rather than them just showing up. Participation trophies in youth sports are

important to hand out because it allows kids to belong to a team and have an increased morale, it

encourages them to stay healthy and active, and lastly it rewards kids for their effort and

commitment to a team.

When a child signs up for a sport, they anticipate having fun and playing a sport they

either love, or are just trying it out for the first time. I know for me, that sports have a great way

of boosting morale, and feeling like you belonged to a team. “It teaches kids about team work,

and why working with others is so important in the real world. It also raises morale for the

child.” (Abate, New York Times). A good example of why these trophies are good for children,

is myself. When I played youth sports, we were always at the bottom of the standings, as we

usually only had two or three wins. The atmosphere during the season on a sports team is
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something special, and it is a feeling I will cherish for the rest of my life. 1 When there would be

an end of the year ceremony, it is a great feeling to earn a trophy for playing that year. It brings a

sense of happiness. That is why youth sports trophies brings kids joy, and teaches them to have

fun while you are doing something that you enjoy.

To continue, participation trophies give children a lifetime of memories. Kids that play

sports will have memories that will last forever no matter if they are good or bad memories.

(Fader, Psychology Today). Playing sports allows for a magnitude of memories to be made.

Almost every practice can have a memory attached to it, and games will be fondly remembered

forever, whether it was a championship game, or just an exhibition. Almost every one’s dad has

sat them down and told them every single memory they have from their childhood sports. When

Dad’s repeat the same stories over and over again, it shows how special that memory was to him.

Children are inspired to play a sport when they are given an opportunity to play, or when

someone shares joyful experiences from the past. When these children grow up and don’t have

anything to entice their kids to participate, how are we supposed to encourage kids to play? It is

important that there is lasting impression to pass down to their kids in the future and encourage

another generation to play.

On the contrary, parents believe that participation trophies are teaching our kids to settle

for mediocrity, and be rewarded just for signing up. As kids get older and are old enough to play

sports, parents feel as though kids that receive participation trophies get them for joining, rather

than earning them by winning. Former NFL player James Harrison recently threw his kids

participation trophies out because he felt like his sons didn’t earn them. He felt as though they

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Pathos: Uses a personal experience to encourage a certain feeling from the reader.
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were handed out even if they didn’t win. (Wallace, Gale Group Student Resources). Mr. Harrison

feels as though his sons should earn them by winning and that he wants them to learn that

participation trophies isn’t how the real-world works. It also teaches his kids that losing and low

work ethic aren’t accepted, and that the accolades should be earned through hard work. This

opinion is wrong, because it is a proven fact that kids don’t sign up just for a trophy. They sign

up to play the game, and try to have fun while playing. If you throw away a child’s trophy, then

you strip them of that memory. If you strip them of their memory, then they won’t have anything

to look back to their child hood for. So, if you throw away a children’s trophy, you are taking

away a memory from their childhood that they could’ve had for their entire life.2 “When kids are

asked why they play sports, here's what they say: To have fun, to improve their skills, to learn

new skills, to be with their friends, to make new friends, to succeed or win, and to become

physically fit.” (Metzl, Gale Group Resources).

To continue, another former NFL player, Kurt Warner, connects the idea that you don’t

automatically pass school just by showing up, you must put work in, in order to succeed.

(Wallace, Gale Group Student Resources). Mr. Warner feels as though you need to work and win

during youth sports in order to deserve a trophy. School relates to that perfectly because you

must do your best at school in order to get anywhere and succeed. When a parent throws out a

trophy that belongs to their child, they are forcing that child to forget a special part of his or her

life. If I came home from school and found out that my parents threw away my trophies, I would

be devastated. Each individual trophy or medal holds a specific memory to me. This opinion on

participation trophies is inaccurate because it damages children to say that their participation

isn’t worth a trophy. Even when the season isn’t successful, it is important to remind kids that

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Syllogism: Uses deduction to make a point about an idea.
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their effort is applauded for this year, and encourage them to play next year and fight for the 1st

place trophy next time.

Participation trophies in youth sports are important to hand out because it allows kids to

belong to a team and have an increased morale, it encourages them to stay healthy and active,

and lastly it rewards kids for their effort and commitment to a team. When a child signs up for a

sport they are eager to play and create memories for a lifetime. Playing on a team increases the

morale of the child, and allows them to feel like they belong to a team. Also, participation

trophies are a necessity because it awards the child’s hard work and commitment, rather than

earning a trophy just for signing up. It doesn’t make sense to say that a child would want to sign

up for a sport just to earn a trophy, because those trophies create memories, not habit’s. An

award to a child, is like a degree for a college student3 To settle the debate on participation

trophies in youth sport, they are necessary because they will have a lasting effect on each child

that receives one. When you don’t give the child something to remember their season by, they

can’t hold onto those memories.

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Analogy: Links two similar ideas together to show significance.
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Working Bibliography (Updated)

Abate, Parker. "In Youth Sports, Participation Trophies Send a Powerful Message." New York

Times [New York, NY], 6 Oct. 2016,

www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/10/06/should-every-young-athlete-get-a-

trophy/in-youth-sports-participation-trophies-send-a-powerful-message. Accessed 28

Sept. 2018.

Baker, Jeff. "Should youth sports hand out participation trophies? At least one Maryland

program has decided not to." Baltimore Sun [Baltimore, MD], 4 May 2018,

www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-youth-sports-participation-trophies-

20180503-story.html. Accessed 21 Sept. 2018.

Berdan, Betty. "Participation Trophies Send a Dangerous Message." The New York Times [New

York, NY], 6 Oct. 2016, www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/10/06/should-every-

young-athlete-get-a-trophy/participation-trophies-send-a-dangerous-message. Accessed

21 Sept. 2018.

Fader, Jonathan. "Should We Give Our Kids Participation Trophies?" Psycology Today, 7 Nov.

2014, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-new-you/201806/should-we-give-our-

kids-participation-trophies. Accessed 21 Sept. 2018.

Merryman, Ashley. "Losing is good for you." New York Times [New York, NY], 25 Sept. 2013,

sec. A, p. 29. Gale Virtual Reference Library,

go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=SUIC&u=pl1949&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA343780619

&searchId=R1&tabID=News&linkSource=termClusters&inPS=true. Accessed 21 Sept.

2018.
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Metzl, Jordan D., and Carol Shookhoff. "Playing Sports Benefits Children." Child Athletes,

edited by Christine Watkins, Greenhaven Press, 2008. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in

Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010487202/OVIC?u=pl1949&sid=OVIC&xid=be

edceb3. Accessed 3 Dec. 2018. Originally published in The Young Athelete: A Sports

Doctor's Complete Guide for Parents, Little, Brown and Company, 2002.

Wallace, Kelly. "Does sports participation deserve a trophy? Let the parental debate begin!"

CNN Wire, 18 Aug. 2015. Student Resources In Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A432245185/SUIC?u=pl1949&sid=SUIC&xid=fe77f

01a. Accessed 4 Feb. 2019.