The idea of participation awards seems to always be a hot topic. Parents, coaches and even the athletes themselves have an opinion.

Should young athletes earn awards just for participating? The reason the debate never seems to go away is because there isn’t a right answer.

CAL Sports Academy’s Coach Corey can see both sides of the argument, as he has been on both sides himself.

“I don’t think there is a right or wrong. I’ve been involved in organizations where we gave participation awards out and it worked well but I was always that coach that taught them the importance of winning and losing. I feel that if you teach them young, it is easier to deal with as they progress through life,” Coach Corey said.

At CAL Sports Academy, Coach Corey instead tries to instill good habits into his players.

“I think there are some life lessons that can be learned. In basketball, we call travels early and don’t let them run up and down the floor because they can build bad habits. And bad habits are sometimes hard to break,” Coach Corey said. “If you’re teaching the proper techniques from the get go, I think there are less problems with failure and more kids will accept it and work harder.”

However, Coach Corey thinks participation awards are a great way to introduce young athletes to the game. You want athletes who are just starting out to feel good about the sport and want to keep playing.

“If they’re playing competitive sports, they should learn how to win. I think losing is part of life. The sooner we introduce kids to those things, they can benefit,” Coach Corey said.

Every organization is different as is every athlete is different. It’s all about what you feel is best for your team or kid.

“I do see where people are coming from. However, being on the old school side of things, I am biased,” Coach Corey said. “Participation awards can be beneficial from an encouragement point of view but I see false habits being created.”

CAL Sports Academy

January 27, 2016

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