| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| gaustsa |
Posted - 12/05/2011 : 22:04:47
Another question from USTSA. Do the kids get tired of the trophies? What can we do different? I have some ideas, let me here yours and I will get your thoughts on mine.
Thanks Again,
Mark
USTSA |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| bigdawg72 |
Posted - 12/09/2011 : 12:40:34
I think kids 13U and younger never really get tired of hardware. I know we have won several tournaments over the last 5 years and he always likes getting the trophies. He also likes the change-up awards that have come too. Rings, plaques, shirts, Phiten necklaces...all those were loved too. I think getting anything is a bonus to kids. Nice to get any kind of reward for success. Maybe directors could do things like give out autographed baseballs. Don't think it would be too tough will baseball connections to get different major league stars to sign a couple of dozen balls each and use those as rewards for winners. At least for one tournament a season. Maybe a team reward sometimes...set of 6 batting helmets, a bat, I liked the free entry to the next tournament deal someone else mentioned, tickets to a braves game, power bands, etc. I am sure there are many more people out there that are more creative than me that could come up with a lot of different ideas. Bottom line, trophies are good, but doing something different every now and then is cool too. |
| TAZ980002 |
Posted - 12/09/2011 : 09:43:48
Thinking about this a little more I came to the conclusion that kids may get tired of trophies but the don't get tired of winning !! Deep down I believe they still like the trophies because they represent an accomplishment, a victory, a symbol that their hard work paid off in some way. |
| RACGOFAR |
Posted - 12/09/2011 : 09:04:25
"DO KIDS GET TIERED OF TROPHIES?"
No. |
| in_the_know |
Posted - 12/08/2011 : 12:48:53
Taking the "same trophy with different engraved plaque" a step further, how about personalizing it, at the very least. Between my three boys we have so many of the generic Triple Crown medals and mini bats lying around that we have no clue what year they were won, for what tournament, and even which son's they are. I know that it allows Tony to order a million of these at once and use year after year, but as a memorable trophy signifying what was won, they don't fit the bill. |
| Bigwhitevan |
Posted - 12/08/2011 : 11:38:32
I think kids get tired of everything. The new best thing becomes the last old thing. Memorable trophies hang out the best. Rings are cool and then they hang somewhere to be forgotten. Phitens are the best so far because the kids wear them all the time. They also happen to probably be the most expensive. If your team wins many tournaments those kids certainly feel different about trophies. Especially the parents that start to stack them everywhere. We usually get two because little brother is bat boy!!!! To teams that aren't winning, trophies are a huge statement. That they competed and came out on top. Free tournament entry is good for team/parents. Not awfully impressive to a 10-12 year old. If you could change up and personalize trophies for your tournament that is probably the best meld. Same trophy with different engraved plaque gets trophy pushed to the back of the shelf. Stuff that spins, 3D image and bobble heads get front row view. BUT my kid loves tourney tshirts from the SNITs. Not sure about in place of a trophy though???? |
| Mad1 |
Posted - 12/08/2011 : 09:26:39
We too use shutterfly for our team, posting about 150 or so pictures a game From our team photographer. The kids get great action shots they can go back to anytime and see year after year. Everyone on the team can also post pictures for everyones benefit. Its also password protected and only those who are members get on there. |
| eastgeorgiabaseball |
Posted - 12/08/2011 : 09:05:24
The rings are pretty popular, until they start getting too many of those! But at the end of the season, We put together a shutterfly picture book of their tournaments during the season and all of their team mates. The idea is for them to have lasting memories of all of their baseball experiences. |
| JMO |
Posted - 12/07/2011 : 12:09:21
How about we skip the trophy for the winning team and give the team a free invite to your next tourney. |
| TAZ980002 |
Posted - 12/07/2011 : 11:40:52
quote:
Originally posted by gasbag
Even in the "BIGS" they hand out hats or T-shirts....what's wrong with that ? I would think someone who is looking to promote their organization by having kids walking around wearing their championship apparel would view this as free advertising. My kid loves a championship hat or Tee over trophies or rings or baby bats etc.
Gasbag, I love the idea about hats !! They can do flex fit or adjustable that say "Triple Crown Spring Frost Tournament Champion" on them somewhere and the kids would love them. |
| canofcorn |
Posted - 12/07/2011 : 11:22:25
For years my son and daughter have preferred the tournament t-shirt in their respective sports as opposed to another trophy/medal. They really like showing those off at school or just around the community. Maybe an option for the the TD's is to switch up the award type from tournament to tournament so that both are given away over time. |
| DecaturDad |
Posted - 12/07/2011 : 10:45:54
My son hates the tshirts. He wants a trophy. (Even though he just hands it to mom on his way off the field and never even looks at it again.). Medals are OK for the smaller tournaments. Rings are nice too, but they never fit. |
| PATbb |
Posted - 12/07/2011 : 09:54:58
Hit&Run,
The original post was "do the kids get tired of trophies" and "what can we do different". Although I did not call out your post directly, your post and another eluded to individual awards. I was just stating my opinion to keep the awards team based. The incentive to play as a team and win is plenty incentive to work hard and play hard.
Your idea to offer an MVP or Golden Glove or Big bat sounds great at first, but it would be a logistical nightmare that the TDs would have trouble managing unless the award was only offered within the championship game that could be watched by the TD or the "unbiased awards committee". Even in the college and pro ranks their are differing opinions amongst those voting for these awards and that is with the 2, 3, 5 or 7 series games on television with replays.
Could you imagine the discussion boards after a big tournament, so and so should have received the award, no this kid was a beast, he should have got it, no, you missed the plays that the kid made from ABC, no way, the big kid from the blue team was a monster and on and on, etc.
quote:
Originally posted by HITANDRUN
quote:
Originally posted by PATbb
Baseball is a team game, and whatever the item(s) are, the winning team players should be rewarded equally for winning the championship.
I don't really understand this post. I think most tournaments give every player on the roster the same item when they win a championship. If you are referring to my post about awards for MVP or Top hitter etc. Look at the College and Pros they give out an MVP at the World Series every year. I think this gives players some incentive to work harder or player harder.
|
| blowinsmoke |
Posted - 12/07/2011 : 09:35:41
Yeah TONYS TOWEL came in handy when there was no T.P. in the restroom at ecb |
| gasbag |
Posted - 12/07/2011 : 09:26:41
Even in the "BIGS" they hand out hats or T-shirts....what's wrong with that ? I would think someone who is looking to promote their organization by having kids walking around wearing their championship apparel would view this as free advertising. My kid loves a championship hat or Tee over trophies or rings or baby bats etc. |
| Dr. Old School |
Posted - 12/07/2011 : 09:19:22
Hitandrun,
The only thing that I have seen with the MVP or Top Hitter type awards is that most of the time the rationale for who they pick only makes sense to the tournament personnel who came up with it. Almost every time (there have been a few exceptions) the person who should have gottent the MVP did not, and the person who got it was a good player, but typically did not have the tournament that warranted the MVP award. Most of the time people ended up saying "Huh?"
Based on those results, I would prefer they not do it at all. |
| HITANDRUN |
Posted - 12/07/2011 : 08:01:15
quote:
Originally posted by PATbb
Baseball is a team game, and whatever the item(s) are, the winning team players should be rewarded equally for winning the championship.
I don't really understand this post. I think most tournaments give every player on the roster the same item when they win a championship. If you are referring to my post about awards for MVP or Top hitter etc. Look at the College and Pros they give out an MVP at the World Series every year. I think this gives players some incentive to work harder or player harder. |
| Scatbat |
Posted - 12/06/2011 : 20:26:51
We think the rings are pretty cool! |
| baseballfanatic325 |
Posted - 12/06/2011 : 19:10:38
The BIG championship ones are still cool even for the older ages. but individual trophies, most kids have 500 or so. They are not wanted as they get older. |
| coach0512 |
Posted - 12/06/2011 : 15:14:27
My last team won 3 tourneys last year. Two gave trophies and 1 gave T shirts they pulled off the table that was selling them to the general public.
The kids hated the T shirts. My son used his to dust and polish the other two trophies.
Unless you have 20-30 trophies the kids don't tire of them. Just watch their faces when they receive a trophy vs a dog tag or a towel or a medal or a draw string bag.
Now, older than 13 is probably a different story.............. |
| proudmama |
Posted - 12/06/2011 : 14:38:55
My 10 year old son loves the trophies! The medals are tossed in a drawer and rarely come out. We purchase the t-shirts for the bigger tournaments (if we got one for every tournament the closet doors wouldn't close)! I'm sure that as he gets older the thrill of winning and bragging rights might out weigh the trophies but for now, the trophies are proudly displayed. |
| Dr. Old School |
Posted - 12/06/2011 : 13:54:43
The only problem is, anything other than trophies, plaques, or medals come with their own set of complications.
1) Whatever you get, you have to get 15 (for 13u and below) and 20 (for 14U and up) of them since teams are carrying more players now. Unless you have a crystal ball and can see who wins, you have to plan for the team with the largest roster. Because of that, you are looking at spending a couple hundred dollars per division on prizes.
2) Nothing else can you get that can look so good, but be so cheap. An $8 trophy can be 2 1/2 feet tall but an $8 t-shirt is a cheap cotton one. $8 sunglasses look like the ones given away at the fair.
Everyone used to give Tony V a hard time about giving away those towels but there is probably not a prize that gets used more than those. Just wait for it to start raining during a tournament (any tournament, not just a TC one) and see how many of those towels you see come out.  |
| SSBuckeye |
Posted - 12/06/2011 : 09:18:19
The kids who win multiple times per season probably do get tired of trophies. The team that pulls out a shocker and wins its only tournament of the season probably would be disappointed in a t-shirt. They want the hardware. |
| JMO |
Posted - 12/06/2011 : 09:14:29
I think HitandRun has got the best idea, but not sure that the TD want's to spend that much money. A bat to the big hitter and glove to gold glove sounds awesome, but not sure they want to spend the $$$$ |
| TAZ980002 |
Posted - 12/06/2011 : 08:11:45
Depends on the event in my opinion. My son likes the trophies from the larger events like SNIT's and Elite 32 events. I know this would be difficult but they seem to like T-shirts pretty well. Maybe you could give medals at the end of the tournament and then mail championship t-shirts to the coach a week later after you know the sizes of the players that won ?? |
| HITANDRUN |
Posted - 12/06/2011 : 06:55:42
I think they could care less if they get trophies or not. If you changed up the awards some I think kids would enjoy that. Sunglasses would be much more exciting than trophies, Cool Tournament Champion T-shirts would be cool also. If you really got creative you could offer a glove to the Golden Glove player of the tournament or a bat for best hitter or MVP or something like that. |
