Participation Awards send the wrong message to kids about what it takes to succeed in life.
In sports, you don’t get a pass. Sports require blood, sweat, and tears. To achieve success, work at it. If you want to improve, work at it.
Easily said. Right? Not really. Those lessons aren’t taught when participation awards are doled out.
Patrick.net
Participation awards do have some value. Enhancing self-esteem is one way. But it doesn’t make sense to reward kids for just showing up. Nowhere else in life will they get rewarded for being present.
In life, you don’t get a trophy for showing up at work. You’ll get rewarded by contributing. That rule should apply to sports as well. Just being on a team–and getting rewarded for it–is like being at a pasta contest without any pasta to eat. It makes no sense.
And if we reward players for just showing up, that acknowledgment diminishes contributions made by those who participate actively and contribute significantly.
Instead of giving out Participation Awards, I recommend distributing three awards–Most Improved, Rising, and First Place. Those options provide multiple ways to recognize different ways that kids contribute to a team.
Participation Awards? Just say, NO!
