Still not a fan of the participation trophy. This year the girls gor a fairly nice trophy for their season's work. Each girl who signed up received the award. Now, each Saturday in the winter the boys and girls K-4 work on drills and scrimmage for an hour a week. It is nothing more than a social basketball clinic, focusing on basic skills, knowledge of the game and fun.
There are no standings. There are no stats. Occasionally we will keep score of a scrimmage. That is it. The 3rd grade girls have a travel team which is competitive. Even then you have 25 girls showing up and the real coaching is trying to get everyone even playing time. That is another story.
Now, at the end of the year the good people who run the league acknowledge all the players and give them an award.
N asks me on the way home today, "Does it cost money to play at school?"
"Not much if any." I say.
"So, if you signed up and did not come to any games, would you get a trophy?" she asked.
"Um, yup." I answered.
Dejected voice, "OK."
So, she gets it. She worked her ass off, got better at the game she clearly enjoys, thought she worked hard enough to win something, and then... well, I guess this trophy means shit since if I did not come I still would get it.
You bet. And I know who she was talking about. There was a 4th grade girl who came the 1st week and today. That is it. And she sucked too.
Needless to say they will both be staring at the same meaningless trophy tonight. Thanks for playing.
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