You're the one that brought up the dumb comparison, and that's what I was commenting on.
I played in a lot of baseball tournaments as a kid. I was on some highly competitive tournament teams and I couldn't disagree with you more. Even at a young age in sports like that at least, kids really want to win the games and win the tournaments.
Why is the comparison dumb? The idea was that the kids are recognized for participation and awarded something. In the instant case a trophy. The opposing position said you should get nothing for only participating in the team sport. My response was that if you should not receive anything the the letters and jackets shouldn't be given as well because a lot of players received them for participating without winning a championship. They were obtained for merely participating. To me it is a legitimate comparison.
If you lettered in football at a big HS you at least won a competition with the other kids who were trying out.
And you got recognized for your efforts. Kids are no different they are just being recognized for participating. Athletic hobbies aren't so elite that a strict and prohibitive set of rules are needed to make them a pinnacle event. At the kid level it more of an organized playground.
I'm not against participation trophies, just pointing out that there's more accomplishment in some letters than just participation. You have to earn your spot on a team.
Right. But that's at a little later age. I am talking about kids from 6 to 12. It's pretty hard to even find enough to field a team in some areas.
a team picture would be a better souvenir anyway.
Yep.
I haven't seen any post in this thread that says this.
Technically you are correct.
