In 2015, James Harrison, the linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers football team, wrote on Instagram, “I came home to find out that my boys received two trophies for nothing, participation trophies!” He then proceeded to say that he will return the trophies until his children “earn a real trophy.” The action of this National Football League star sparked an online debate that has raged into a full-blown controversy. Since then, opposing viewpoints have emerged. Professional athletes like Major League Baseball’s Bryce Harper from the Washington National and the National Basketball Associations star, Kobe Bryant, have voiced their opinions on the matter and many parents have found themselves questioning their family values. Participation trophies have become the punchline of many jokes about the Millennial generation’s attitudes of entitlement, but their effect on children’s psyches has yet to be seriously determined. The argument that James Harrison makes is that children are being rewarded for merely “showing up.” Harrison and others argue that children that receive these awards develop a sense of entitlement that takes away from their work ethic. Along with entitlement comes the belief that their best effort is good enough, a statement which Harrison thinks is untrue. As with all controversies, an opposing side has developed. The Participation trophy activists believe that James Harrison’s argument is outdated. In the 1980s parental values shifted from a “hands off approach” to that of nurturing safety and self-esteem. This parental structure has grown to become the stereotype for parental values for the millennial generation. Parents are now concerned with their children’s confidence and self-esteem which places a great deal of importance on participation trophies. These parents argue that it is more important to reward their children for giving their best effort than to determine who are winners and losers. They are more concerned with giving their children a chance to fly before bringing them down to earth. Studies have shown that rewarding effort over results helps facilitate the motivation of young children. 

I grew up playing many different recreational sports. I played soccer from ages four to thirteen, basketball from six to fifteen, and I started swimming when I was seven years old and continued to become a NCAA Division 1 Swimmer at the University of South Carolina. Over the years I have accumulated quite the collection of participation trophies and I was always so proud of my trophies. I would leave space at the top of my bookcase in my room for all my trophies and hang all my “participation medals” there as well. I loved my end-of-season trophies and medals as they signified an entire season of that sport. I loved the end-of-the-season banquet when the team went out to a small pizza place and the kids pretended they were playing the arcade games even though there was no money in them and the parents would all talk and laugh with each other. I especially enjoyed when the coach would hand out the trophies and say a few words about your season. Along with recreational sports I also participated in the cub scouts. I remember the first pinewood derby race that raced in. The rules were that we had to make our own cars out of a block of pinewood and then we would race them down an incline. The cars could not come from a premade kit and they could not exceed a certain weight limit. My dad and I worked on my car and painted it electric blue. I put six or seven flame stickers on the car after it dried so it would go faster. I was so proud of my car. We arrived at the derby without any speed testing or knowledge of what to expect. We walked in to cars that looked professionally sanded, with greased wheels and perfect weights. When it was my turn to race I got to watch my car get released down the incline, veer left, start rubbing against the side of the lane, and finish dead last. I was heartbroken. After the race my dad and I went to pick up our car and we saw that they were handing out certificates with the cars. They handed the certificate to my dad and he laughed and then handed me a paper that said “Best Use of Stickers”. We both laughed. Even though I knew the award was meaningless I kept it, along with the car because I knew that I worked hard on it and I was happy that I was recognized for that hard work. It motivated me to want to make a better car instead of discouraging me. The next year, I built a car that came in third. I see this motivation when I coach swimming as well. The nine and ten year-olds that barely make it across the pool, come to the end of the year banquet and their faces light up when they get that medal that says participation and they hold it up to show their parents mouthing the words “I did it!” These kids come back the next year and the next. They keep coming and they keep getting better and better. Participation trophies, however meaningless they sound, help motivate children to continue their pursuits which can lead to great success. 

The origin of participation trophies is unknown however “Little League Historians” believe that the trend began in the latter half of the 20th century. In the 1980s there was a movement in California that pushed for an increase of self-esteem for children in struggling communities (Stern Aaron). This became a national trend for parenting. In contrast to the pre-baby-boomers who were concerned with teaching their children humility and diligence and the parents in the 1970s who took a more hands-off approach causing a stereotypical Generation X’er (anyone born between 1961-1981) to be considered under-supervised. According to Bruce Tulgan, published author of over twenty books on business and management, the greatest change in parenting occurred in the 1980s where “the norms of parenting shifted sharply toward safety and self-esteem” (Tulgan, Bruce xiii). Parents made sure that their children always felt wanted and secure. This value shift caused many people to have a hard time realizing the importance of participation trophies. The parenting that NFL player James Harrison received was very different compared to the parenting of a child born in the early 2000s. While many parents might think, “I never got a participation trophy and I turned out fine,” the trend has now become to focus on how these trophies can facilitate motivation and encourage improvement. The controversy over participation recognition is not with the trophies themselves but with the generational differences that lead to misunderstanding. Those who feel like James Harrison look for reasons to get rid of the trophies because they do not understand the value. One of their main arguments is that they feel these awards create a dangerous sense of entitlement for the children receiving them. Although Millennials are often considered to be high-maintenance workers and to have an entitled attitude they are still predicted to “be the most highly performing work force in history” (Tulgan, Bruce 4). 

Before someone can be dedicated to something, they have to be motivated to try. Motivation is necessary for dedication to exist. Without a drive or desire, participation in sports becomes meaningless. Participation trophies help motivate children by rewarding effort over results. A study was conducted by Bradley Morris and Shannon Zentall to test the differences in praise types and their effects on children’s motivation constants. The study used generic and non-generic praise types. Generic praise is based on “stable” factors or things that seem out of the individual’s control. The study uses the example “You are such a good drawer” as generic praise meaning that the individuals God-given ability produced a good drawing (Morris, Bradley). The opposite is true for non-generic praise. This kind of praised is based on something the individual can control, like effort. The study used the example of “Good drawing, you must have worked really hard on it” for non-generic praise (Morris, Bradley). This goal of this study was to determine the effect of rewarding effort and ability. The results were conclusive. The more times the children heard non-generic praises the more motivated they were to persist when they were faced with a failure. This is because they believed that it was in their control to succeed. Those children that were praised for ability, with generic praises, believed that they were just bad at something and they could not control their lack of ability. Participation trophies function the same way. Not every child is going to have the same natural ability as others, but they can give the same amount of effort. Participation trophies help motivate the children that may not be the best at soccer or baseball to become better and try harder. A similar study was conducted where the researchers criticized the either the traits of children or the process. The children that heard trait criticism found to have lower self-assessment and persistence compared to the process criticism (Dweck, Carol). This study shows how criticizing ability will have a negative impact on self-worth and self-assessment. If you tell the children that they are losers, they will believe it. If you tell them they are bad at something they will not be motivated to continue. Participation trophies relieve this issue by ensuring that all the children are rewarded for their effort. 

Participation trophies don’t just motivate those who are not competitive. Even children with desires to succeed and win can be motivated by a lesser trophy. Kobe Bryant described what he said to his son when he was upset about receiving a 4th place trophy. He told the child “Well listen, get the fourth place trophy, go home. You take the fourth place trophy, you put it up right where you can see it, and when you wake up in the morning, you look at the trophy and you remind yourself of what you’ll never win again.” (Curtis, Charles). Sometime not performing to your expectations is just as effective for motivation as is praise. Children are smart enough to understand the difference between a first-place trophy and one for participation. If the individual is serious about the sport the recognition for participation will serve as a reminder of when the season did not go as planned. For other children, though, the recognition of their effort will be praise to motivate them to try harder next time. 

Youth sports has seen steady increases since it started in the early 19th century. But the recent increase seen since the 1990s can be attributed to the self esteem movement and changes in the educational system (Friedman, Hillary). The increase in participation benefits not just the self-esteem of our children but also, more obviously, the health of our nation. Participating in youth sports increases the activity level of our children and this participation in sports has also been shown to benefit children’s aspirations for higher education. According to the Aspen Institute, “High school athletes are more likely than non-athletes to attend college” (Aspen). Youth sports have a positive impact on different aspects of development like self-esteem, goal setting, and leadership and female student athletes are less likely to feel depressed (Aspen). One would wonder, with all these benefits coming out of children’s participation in youth sports, why wouldn’t we take every chance we could to motivate our children to participate, even if it means giving out medals to all who showed up. 

But there is really no one who “just shows up” when it comes to kids and their activities. The children must dedicate time and effort in order to make it through a season. In recreational soccer, the total workload was two practices a week, one-hour each and a two-hour game on Saturday. The season was nine weeks long so the total investment for the child was about thirty-six hours. To a child, thirty-six hours seems like an eternity but once they get their hands on a $3 trophy, it all becomes worth it. As children get older the workload increases. As a competitive club swimmer, I dedicated about twenty-four hours a week to my swimming career and every one of the ribbons or participation trophies I received was saved and made me work harder. And while I saved the trophies and medals, it was more about the recognition. Children need a way to be recognized for their effort. My younger sister took dance classes for years. The end of their dancing “season” culminated in a recital. At the recital, the dancers wore costumes, the parents gave them bouquets of flowers, and they got their pictures taken outside of the high school auditorium. For my sister this was just as good as a trophy for this recognition of accomplishment helps her understand that her efforts have been acknowledged and this positive reinforcement will encourage her to come back next year to do it again. 

My father is on the board of the Northern Virginia Soccer Club and I interviewed him on the value of participation awards. At the younger ages, medals are given to all players aged three through ten. At age eleven and twelve, the soccer players participate in a tournament where first and second place finishes are recognized with trophies and all other finishers receive participation medal. Beyond age twelve, participation medals are no longer given out and the only recognition a player gets is if their team wins tournaments. This philosophy is that the recognition for participation is used to motivate the participation in the sport regardless of your results within the activity. But at a point, when the child becomes more serious and dedicated (older), it is alright to replace awarding participation with awarding results. My father believes that the participation medals and the recognition for their efforts directly correlates to their future success with winning results. Motivation at a young age leads to success at the latter stages of a career. I was motivated by my participation trophies until I grew and understood that there was more meaning behind a trophy that said the word “champion” on it. The important part is keeping the children in the sport. Taking away a key motivation factor would have terribly negative impacts on not only the participation of youth sports, but also the health and wellness of the whole demographic.

The issue with participation trophies is growing. A poll conducted in 2014 concluded that fifty-seven percent of American adults believe that only the winning team should receive trophies (Fader, Johnathan). Fifty-seven percent of people would rather their child feel like a loser instead of rewarding their efforts. Fifty-seven percent would watch their six-year-old walk off the field and tell them that their best effort was not good enough. Fifty-seven percent of American adults would try and bring their children down to earth before they got the chance to fly. With sport participation growing, America must decide what is best for our children. Will we reward effort or will we use the trophy selection as a platform to prepare six-year-olds for the harsh reality of adult life?

James Harrison has had an incredible career with 2 Super Bowl victories in 12 years, however, by his definition he lost 10 of those 12 seasons. I wonder how many of those seasons he returned his paycheck. 

Works Cited

Curtis, Charles. “Kobe Bryant has it right: Why participation trophies aren’t the worst”. For the Win, USA Today Sports, 5 July 2017, http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/07/kobe-bryant-participation-trophies-why-theyre-okay-james-harrison-bryce-harper. Accessed 15 Sept. 2017.

Dweck, Carol S. and Kamins, Melissa L. “Person Versus Process Praise and Criticism: Implications for Contingent Self-Worth and Coping.” Developmental Psychology, vol. 35, no. 3, 1999, pp. 835-847, http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.395.3991&rep=rep1&type=pdf. Accessed 1 Oct. 2017

“Facts: Sports Activity and Children.” Project Play, The Aspen Institute, 2015, www.aspenprojectplay.org/the-facts.

Fader, Johnathan. “Should We Give Our Kids Participation Trophies?” Psychology Today, Psychology Today, 10 Sept. 2014, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-new-you/201409/should-we-give-our-kids-participation-trophies.

Friedman, Hilary Levey, and Friedman, Hilary Levey. Playing to Win : Raising Children in a Competitive Culture, University of California Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/southcarolina/detail.action?docID=1318189.

Morris, Bradley J. and Zentall, Shannon R. ““Good job, you’re so smart”: The effects of inconsistency of praise type on young children’s motivation.” Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, vol. 107, no. 2, 2010, http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/eds/command/detail?vid=1&sid=32e9ac15-aaff-4483-9dd7-3ced6b809ef9%40sessionmgr4009. Accessed 1 Oct. 2017.

Powers, Jason. “Science Says Participation Trophies Are a Big Win for the Little Ones.” Huffington Post, 28 Aug. 2015, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-powers/science-says-participatio_b_8054046.html. Accessed 4 Sept. 2017.

Sledge, Benjamin. “How Participation Trophies Created a Purposeless Society.” Medium, 13 Dec. 2016, https://medium.com/personal-growth/how-participation-trophies-created-a-purposeless-generation-5da047955e8. Accessed 4 Sept. 2017.

Stern, Aaron. “Why Did Kids Start Getting Participation Trophies For Sports?” Fatherly, Fatherly, 22 Sept. 2016, www.fatherly.com/play/sports/participation-trophy/. 

Tulgan, Bruce. Not Everyone Gets a Trophy : How to Manage Generation Y, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/southcarolina/detail.action?docID=4205877.