The Participation Trophy

Here is another blog based off the speech I’m currently writing for my presentational speaking class. This time, we have to create a persuasive speech, which is not something I am great at if I’m being truthful. So, as you can imagine, I struggled trying to find a topic I could create a solid speech about that is also interesting to the audience. I thought I could do something with social media, but I realized it probably wouldn’t have made any sense to anyone except me. As I was sitting in class this afternoon, I asked one of my professors on what topic I should give my persuasive speech. He teaches the history of women’s sports, so naturally he said I should do something within the sports area. Since I have played volleyball for over eight years, I started thinking I could do a speech about something in volleyball. Then he said two magical words and I knew it was the subject I wanted to speak about: participation trophies. Although I can’t remember any specific instances, I’m sure I have received participation awards at some point over the years and let me say, I am not a fan. The funny thing is, though, if you would have asked me when I was younger, I would have agreed with the notion of giving participation trophies. The difference is I have now seen the impact competition has contributed to who I am and all the lessons I have learned from the failure I have experienced in sports.

I understand why some parents believe in the importance of participation trophies. They want their children to know they are special and feel like they contributed something to the team and the game. The reality of the situation is the kids can be raised on the “you tried” mentality, but once they get into the real world, that mentality is not going to pass. You don’t get a high position in an organization simply by showing up; you get it by proving what you can do and how you can help the organization. The same goes for sports. Yes, showing up and cheering on your team is important, but ultimately, most likely won’t help the team win or lose. There is a certain feeling of pride from winning something and by giving the opposition a similar reward, the children who actually won don’t have the opportunity to feel that success. One of the best parts about sports is knowing all your hard work paid off when you get the win you deserved. Having the chance to grow character by understanding the difference between winning and losing is something that can make or break a child’s success later in life.

Now, I know I’m sounding rather harsh talking about this and no, I don’t think winning is everything. I am by no means saying those kids don’t deserve to be recognized for their hard work and I understand everyone contributes their talents in different ways. Still, this does not mean we should start handing out trophies as if they are candy. There is a reason the people who won are receiving a trophy: they dedicated their time and effort to that one thing and deserve to be recognized. The others should not be considered losers, but they are also technically not winners. Learning to accept defeat and failure is the most important part to building character and by continuing this participation trophy deal, the children are losing that opportunity. If they lose their soccer match, take them out to ice cream and teach them what they can do better the next time, don’t give them something they know they don’t deserve. In the long run, losing is one of the best parts of life because when you do finally get the chance to win, there is no greater feeling.