Editor’s Notes: Do you need a trophy for showing up?

By Patsy Stoddard

I heard about the NFL player who returned two trophies his children had received for participating in a sport. I’ve thought a little about this. Should we be rewarded for showing up and participating? What do kids learn from receiving a trophy just because they were there.
In sports, teams are rewarded for being the best. When you’re young you may receive a trophy for first or second place. In high school athletics the first and second teams for state championship and sometimes region championships will receive a team trophy.
But just for showing up? Actually it doesn’t bother me. I’ve thought about the rewards you might receive for showing up. If you show up to vote, you get to have a voice in who is running the government, city, county or the nation.
What if you’ve never attended a city or county meeting. You didn’t show up. You don’t have a voice.
If you show up at an event or activity you reap the benefits from being there. If you show up to play on a team you are getting some benefits from that activity. You get some exercise, you learn teamwork, you learn it’s not always all about you. You’re part of a team. Maybe you don’t need a trophy maybe a T-shirt to remember the season. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have something to remember the activity or event.
What happens if you never show up. Do you whine and cry if things happen you don’t like? Were you there when they had the meeting that talked about the particular problem or activity that you don’t like.
Do you wonder why so many things happen that you don’t know about. Do you keep yourselves informed. How many things do you let slip by because you didn’t know about it. The county recently hosted the Emery County Fair. I had some people tell me, I didn’t know the fair was going on? I just thought, well you must live in a bubble. The fair is a big event in the county and one that needs more support, more people to show up. More people to participate. It will only get better with more participation.
Oftentimes people get so wrapped up in their personal lives they forget they are part of a town, a community and part of a nation.
Sometimes it’s hard to show up, you don’t want to face ridicule or have disagreements with those you don’t agree with and those who don’t agree with you. It’s hard to put yourself out there and voice an opinion.
You have to admire the people that are willing to do that. Does anyone put their foot in their mouth more often than Donald Trump. But, he has shown up, he’s giving it a shot, he’s willing to take the criticism and put himself out there. I think it’s great. All those who have signed up to run for office, it’s fantastic they care enough about their country to give it a shot.
Can kids still learn a lesson by showing up for sports? Back when my kids were young and if they signed up for a sport, they had to finish the season. They couldn’t quit. If the sport didn’t appeal to them after a month or two into the season, oh well. They still had to finish the season. They didn’t have to sign up for that sport ever again, but they did have to complete what they were involved with at the time.
Maybe the only time this didn’t happen was when one son slipped and fell off a tree swing and broke both arms. He didn’t play catcher the rest of that season and then decided not to play again and went to work during the summers instead of baseball.
So no I don’t think it’s a big deal. I wouldn’t give the kids trophies back, seems like that’s overkill. You can still have the conversation with the kids about doing well and trying your hardest and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Trying so hard to win at something, can sometimes lead to bad decisions, look at the DeflateGate with the footballs being underinflated at the conference championship.
I think there are many lessons to be learned just by showing up and sticking something out.
Always doing your best at whatever you do is something to strive for, but sometimes, just being there, just showing up just might be enough.