Participation Trophies
When I was in my years of attending concerts, I would buy the t-shirt of the band I had seen. It was a way of showing I went to the concert and now it is a way to reminisce about the event. When I wear the t-shirt now, even if it is threadbare and people recognize the band or artist and they too saw them in concert they can immediately relate and might even start up a conversation about their experience and if they hadn’t seen them they readily express their regret. It is a way of immediately forming a connection, a way of relating and a common walk down memory lane.
The same is true of race shirts with the added benefit of letting people know what you were able to accomplish. It is showing off. It is a way of saying I was able to run 3.1 miles or 6.2 miles or the half marathon of 13.1 miles or the pinnacle of achievement for the amateur
runner, the marathon of 26.2 miles. Similar to the bumper sticker that simply states 13.1 or 26.2 indicates that you are more than a casual jogger. You are in a class with few others. They show greater achievement than the Weekend warrior, who still claims to be an athlete while only being able to display their pulled muscles on Monday. It is reminiscent of the “hamstring league” in which middle aged men play softball together until one pulls a hamstring running to first base. No medals or trophies for them.
We live in a time of everyone receiving a trophy so that no one feels bad. The previous generations abhor that approach. No matter, coming in first place still has its place of prominence. We watch sports and root for a winner. We are bothered to no end sports that can still end in a tie. There was a time when hockey games could end in a tie but because of how unsatisfying that is the NHL moved to a shootout after the overtime game was played. As opposed to regular season football games that can still end in a tie, despite significant pressure to change the overtime rules even further to avoid such a conclusion. We want to crown a winner, even though in most sports, no one actually receives a crown. Even in the Triple Crown no one, not even the horse receives a crown.
There are significant trophies in professional sports. The Green jacket of Augusta in golf, the Stanley Cup in hockey, the Lombardi Trophy in football, the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in Basketball and the very creatively named Commissioner’s Trophy in baseball. Each one with the exception of Baseball has a significant story about how that championship trophy received its name.
Larry O’brien, Lawrence Francis O’Brien Jr. (July 7, 1917 – September 28, 1990) was an American politician and basketball commissioner. He was one of the United States Democratic Party’s leading electoral strategists for more than two decades. He was Postmaster General in the cabinet of President Lyndon Johnson
The Stanley Cup formerly known as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup was commissioned in 1892 and is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) considers it to be one of the “most important championships available to the sport.” It is named after Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, who donated it as an award to Canada’s top-ranking amateur ice hockey club.
The Commissioner’s Trophy is awarded to the winner of the World Series annually. Unlike the Stanley Cup, a new trophy is created each year. Originally, it was always presented in the winner’s locker room, but since 1997 the trophy presentation has happened on the field, whether the home team wins or not.
Unlike trophies such as the Stanley Cup, a new Vince Lombardi Trophy is cast every year, and the winning team maintains permanent possession of it. Before it was renamed the trophy that was awarded was called the “World Professional Football Championship,” Following his death in September 1970, the NFL renamed the trophy awarded to the winner of the Super Bowl, the Lombardi trophy. Vince Lombardi, who is considered by many to be among the greatest coaches and leaders in American sports.
No matter what it is called in professional team sports, the winner receives a trophy they dance with it, fill it with champagne and generally frolic with their winning memento. Each athlete has their chance to celebrate their team’s achievement by kissing, hugging and embracing their oversized trinket. If that is not enough, often the celebration extends into the next season when on opening day each player will receive a ring especially designed to show off their accomplishment.
Trophies in individual sports are often amassed by the most elite athletes and rooms are built to store them. For some, as they have made their way up the ranks from child player to professional they have also rooms filled with accolades to how great they have always been. For some of us, those trophies are far and few between but are no less valued. Somewhere along the way we have lost our sense of pride in our own achievements.
The trophy has become the idol of success as photographers try their best to capture the best picture of the athletes holding their object of desire as if winning wasn’t enough. Maybe that is what has given birth to the idea that everyone should receive a trophy. Maybe that is the way we have chosen to devalue the trophy so that it is no longer the end result but rather a means of encouragement to continue on and enjoy the game.
I am regularly impressed by the athlete who walks away at the top of their game when it is no longer fun for them. Afterall, personal enjoyment was probably why they got into the sport in the first place. We do see athletes who are clearly living out their parents’ dreams. However, I still feel that is the minority. For the athlete who truly enjoys the game, the trophy is a side benefit. For the athlete obsessed with showing off their rings, medals and trophies, maybe they have lost their sense of joy in the accomplishment. Maybe their ego has just gotten too big.
The debate about the effect of participation trophies will continue. However, when the trophy replaces the enjoyment, it is time to ask why are we participating in the first place?