Featured NFL Star Discovered His Kids Had Been Given Participation Trophies. He returns them.

Just get over yourself, please. You are certainly NOT the only one. I have coached baseball my whole adult life. I played at a very high level. Best thing that ever happened to me was not making the team my first year. You most certainly are not the only one with first hand experience, so stop it. And you stepped in it big time with your "fluff" comment.

 

Why is there not a "like" button?

 

I never said I was the "only one with first hand experience." Furthermore, I'm not going to get into a spitting contest about our relative baseball street cred.

"Saying I stepped in it big time" is not a rebuttal to anything. I suppose Mike Trout could tell you when he was a kid he thought participation trophies were worthless and you wouldn't believe him.

 

Trout can hold any view he wants to. Same with anyone.

And you DID say your experience trumped all. If you don't want to compare credentials, don't bring it up.

 

I don't fault Harrison for doing this. I wouldn't fault him if he didn't do it. Parents all have an impossible job, and there's no guarantee of outcome. My heart goes out to him that everything he does gets second-guessed online.

 

Ya know, that's the thing about this thread. He returns a couple of trophies his kids got for participating in athletics and most people here applaud that, as if participation trophies are the root of all sorts of societal ills. Use of Time and myself thought there is no harm being done by handing out these trophies.

As I said earlier in the thread there is not enough information presented to make a sound judgment on this instance. For example, if the athletic program his kids were participating in is an elite program, requiring tryouts, and people getting cut from participating, then perhaps the trophies are justified. If everyone that signs up makes the cut, then probably not. And we don't know the age of the kids.

Here in the Minneapolis area it's common for 250-300 kids in each of five age groups (ten to fifteen years old) to tryout for 36 positions on 3 traveling baseball teams per age group per city. So, 300 kids trying out for 36 spots. In this case, yes, it's kind of a big deal to be able to participate. You achieved something merely by making the team.

 

Myself, I would have a t-shirt with a number and the kid's name on the back with the event on the front made up for everyone who signed up. You can do this cheap, and usually solicit a business or two to chip in.

Trophies for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place.

 

You want hardcore parents ?

Do some research on why some Dominican players don't use batting gloves.

 

Who would have even known about him returning the trophies had he not blabbed about it on social media (and in so doing exposed his kids' sports failures to everybody)?

 

Ok. That is a fair point.

 

That was my first thought as well. They guy was looking for controversy...and he got it.

 

I came up through Pony baseball with the likes of David Wright and Michael Cuddyer. We all got a trophy and a pizza party at the end of the season. The trophies were essentially the same thing as a school picture. Just a reminder of your summer with that particular team. I had them lined up on my dresser and after about ten years of playing it was fun to look back and see which teams you played with. I don't think it did anything to diminish the competitive drive or create a sense of entitlement to those I mentioned. Competitive nature is an internal thing that can't be created by the lack of a trophy or diminished with the receipt of one. There were things that separated talent...i.e. All Star Teams, an actual championship trophy for the team that won the district and possible invitations to join AAU or travel teams.

Pointing at participation trophies as some root of all evil which placates a rising athlete is ridiculous. If you were to look at professional rosters you would probably find a healthy number of players that came up on both sides of the argument but the only thing they have in common is TALENT. That's what eventually separated them from the rest of the pack.