Wise Little League Football sign-ups

I think to a certain age you need to get as many kids involved as possible and keep it as fun as possible. But I also think that success deserves to be awarded. Maybe give the kids whose team won the championship a slightly bigger trophy or a t-shirt that says Little League Champs, I don't know.

Personally I think competiton is great. If your not competitive it is really really hard to be successful in today's world. Once they get into high school they have to develope this mentality.

Look at the best programs around, GC, Norton, and PV in football, Kelly in baseball, etc. When that team steps off the bus you can see the fire in there eyes. Success breeds success. For the most part it is the same few teams every year at the top of the pack in the lpd and the region in every sport.

But I think the main thing we need to teach the younglin's playing is that there are only two things you can control in sports. Your attitude and your effort.

But like I said once they reach a certain age, they need to develope that winning mentality. Because if they are lucky, it will carry over in there lives long after they have hung there cleats up for the last time.

I have a quote a friend of mine once told me, but I won't post it here due to respect for the kids reading this forum. But here is the link.
http://www.hostboard.com/LDPforum/ubbthr...ge=0#Post202369
It is a little vulgar, but I think it gets the point across.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: CowboysandSkynyrd</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have been an avid reader on this forum for quite some time, when most posts were from "anonymous". If I disagreed with some posters, I kept it to myself just as I did when I agreed. However, I have to disagree with anyone who thinks that a kid does not deserve a trophy. Everything about children's lives these days seems to be so serious. Instead of pumping their legs to send a swing soaring toward the sky, kids spend afternoons sitting in front of a screen watching TV or playing a video or computer game. I remember when I was a little kid and was handed my first trophy to this day and I bet you do too. Did I hit the game winning home run... no. Did I hit the game winning shot to left field...no. Did our team win the championship...heck no. We did play and have alot of fun though.
In no way did that trophy trigger in my adolescent mind that I should somehow receive handouts for the rest of my life because I am now the "man"? with a trophy. At a young age, a child is likely to enjoy a sport more if allowed to learn in a relaxed atmosphere while having fun and receiving support and encouragement from their coaches and parents. Athletics for youngsters should be thought of as a means of entertainment and recreation. Adults shouldn't pressure a young child to focus only on winning so they are the only one with a trophy. Have fun with your child and that trophy they got for "losing"? because before you know it, those little footsteps will grow up.
Take it or leave it, it's just my opinion.
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I wasn't going to post on this subject because I for one have 2 boys and I know what it is like to see their face when given a trophy. I also know what it is like to see their face when they are on the losing end of a game. A trophy can mean so many different things, especially when a child is so young and they are finding the love of the game. Believe me a child knows when his team has lost and giving him a trophy isn't going to change the outcome of the game in his mind. These are the times of their life right now, for goodness sakes why would anyone with children oppose to giving these little kids trophies. It is not a trophy saying they won, but a trophy for participation and trying. It is no different than when our kids are growing up and we reward them for certain things they do. Some reward their kids for making honor roll, doing chores around the house, they get allowance and etc.. Not all parents are the same, maybe some don't reward their kids and that is fine. I am sure they are just as good of a parent as those that do reward their kids in some way. I was one growing up that didn't get allowance or rewards for good grades, but got grounded if I even brought home a C. But I am a parent who rewards my kids at times. Heck I even buy things for them they don't really need, just because they want it. I don't do that all the time though. I myself buy things for me that I don't need.

For the most part, kids that turn out to be good leaders, good sportsmenship, and good behavior is taught that at home and by their teachers,coaches at school. It don't really matter if they come from a losing team or winning team or if they got a trophy even if they didn't win.

As far as trophies go, I don't see giving a kid a trophy unless it is their final year being able to compete in a sport (tee-ball, little league, p-nut football, ll basketball, etc), or if they win a championship. That way, if a kid plays he is sure to get at least one before he or she isn't able to compete at a particular lever anymore. IMO giving them out to every kid every year is just overkill, and it devalues the trophy to the kids in the long run.
I don't know how it is now..but in BSG back in the day in p-nut football every kid got a patch for participation, the champs got an additional patch from the lions club and in addition got a medal. In baseball, trophies were given to champs (T-ball had a trophy for kids playing their final year)..and I don't know what basketball got cuz I hate that sport and didn't play.

I still feel that the kids don't focus on the trophy as much as WHY they got it. Like I said earlier, the trophy is a symbol. A symbol of participation, winning, or an individual accomplishment. I don't think it's overkill to give a trophy for competing. And I agree the champs should get something special, be it a medal or patch or bigger trophy. Everyone has their own out look on this issue. None are neccessarily wrong. Giving a kid a trophy after the season is not different than me buying my son a video game or giving him money for good grades. Long after he has wore out the game or spent the money, that trophy will still be there. When he is older, he will be able to pick up that trophy and think back to that season and sport and pull a few cherished or forgotten memories from his childhood. I don't know about you all, but I miss my childhood and revel in those random memories that jump at me from time to time.

I just think giving trophies for participation on the final year of eligibility encourages participation at the next level they step into. Like I said, givin one every year cheapens the accomplishment of participation. But, most kids in their final year will see the field and get a taste of what the game is like even if they didn't participate every year. The cost of giving trophies every year could provide much more equiptment etc. for all the kids as well.

Mine is 8, he made me put a special shelf for his baseball and basketball trophies. He earned all of them. The hard work of showing up for practices, playing every game, trying his best to get on base or score and helping his teammates was how he earned them. He never once tried to get out of cleaning his room, doing his chores, etc. because someone gave him a trophy. When they are that young the final score doesn't matter. The accomplishment of starting the season and sticking with it until the last game is enough of a victory for them. They finished something they started and that is a great accomplishment.

Giving a non-winning kid a trophy reminds me of the scene from Meet the Fockers where they're standing in front of Gaylord's trophy wall: full of 9th place ribbons ("I didn't know they even made 9th place ribbons"), and other loser-memorabelia.

BTW - showing up for practice and being there for games is just a basic obligation of being on a team - if they're going to be on a team they have to fulfill the basic requirements. You dont get prizes for fulfilling basic obligations.

That's like saying a kid gets a trophy for just bringing home his school assignments. It's an obligation.

Funny how people with no kids get on here and talk like they know whats going on. To say little kids dont deserve trophies for participation for "little league" and "p-nut" leagues is ridiculous. And who gets off saying it gives them false hope? WTF is that about? Has anyone ever seen a little kids face light up when they see that trophy? They talk about it, brag about it to family, and show it off. Sometimes thats all these little guys/girls have. No wonder the majority on here don't have kids.


/end rant

Just because I personally haven't birthed a child doesn't mean the other children in my life (ages 4-11) aren't as important as if they were my own - I am active in their lives.

Just like everyone else on here (childless or otherwise) I was a kid once too As a kid I participated in organized events. I remember what it was like to be in both a winning group and a non-winning group. We didn't get trophies and awards for every little thing. As a matter of fact we had awards banquets, where only the highest achievers received awards. The others went home empty-handed (this in kids as young as 9). Times have changed - kids are now being handed everything (moreso than when I was a kid). Its getting worse with every generation.

The line I hear the most anymore? "I just want him/her to have everything I didn't have as a child" which apparently includes lack of: discipline, goals, work, earning.

I guess I am forced to think how us older folks talk sometimes. We see the spoiled to death kids and think how good they got it, how they get everything handed to them, how lots won't work 'lower' jobs because they think its beneath them. To me, this idea is why. Hey give something for participation, great, but if "junior" works really hard and achieves really great at little league and "Bubba" does nothing, and you give them both the same reward, what are you teaching? You're teaching Junior not to try to much because it really doesn't matter, and you're teaching Bubba not to worry because you get the same as someone who works hard.

Best I recall, we didn't get a trophy for participation, playing the games was our reward for participation, we knew we had to be there at practices if we wanted to play. Now at the end of the year, normally our coach (with some help from the league) would take us out for pizza or something. That was our trophy and of course we would talk about who would be back next year and how they would have to work hard and get better for the next year, and would also wish the ones going to the next level good luck.

Yeah everybody wants to win, and hey maybe if you're dealing with little kids, give them something, a patch, a t-shirt, someting, but allow them to know that there is people who win, and that participation isn't the same.