Rewarding Participation in Youth Sport: Beyond Trophies for Winning

Abstract

Recently, many parents, sportswriters, and social critics have expressed concern for young athletes being given participation trophies. They claim that it fosters a sense of entitlement and teaches youngsters that they do not need to earn rewards. I argue that youth sport participants should not be rewarded only for participation, but that they should be given opportunities for earing awards beyond mere victory. This is because a variety of values, such as symbolic meaning, challenge and risk, aesthetics, and high-quality relationships with teammates and opponents, deserve reward as well. I conclude that coaches and organizers should find ways to given tokens to most youth sport participants for achieving, or striving to achieve, these alternate values.Key words: youth sport, values, competition. ResumenRecientemente, padres, escritores deportivos y críticos sociales han expresado su preocupación porque se entreguen trofeos de participación a jóvenes atletas. Ellos afirman que esto fomenta la sensación de permisividad y enseña a los jóvenes que no necesitan ganar recompensas. Yo defiendo que los participantes en deporte para jóvenes no deberían ser premiados sólo por participar, pero se les deberían ofrecer más oportunidades para conseguir premios que van más allá de la victoria. Esto es porque una diversidad de valores, como el significado simbólico, el desafío y riesgo, la estética, y las relaciones de calidad entre compañeros también merecen ser premiados. Concluyo que los entrenadores y organizadores deberían encontrar caminos para premiar a los participantes más jóvenes por conseguir, o esforzarse por conseguir, estos valores alternativos.

Volleyball Athletes Training Program Towards Their Achievements

“…The study of English (2018) reiterated the need for appreciation awards not only for winning teams but also for all who participated, most especially for student-athletes. It should be taken note that student-athletes are far different from professional athletes, whose goal is only to win.…”

Perception of fathers and mothers about the sports practice of young athletes: a qualitative study

“…Therefore, it is imperative that clubs and coaches work to ensure the promotion of value systems that foster the task orientation of the athlete, and promote these positive values (Berengüí et al, 2022). Unlike elite sport, sport at young ages should tend to explicitly advocate values that go beyond victory, bringing together diverse educational experiences, such as the development of sport skills, leadership and teamwork (English, 2018).…”