Like most of what some learn on the Internet -- and later come to BELIEVE -- the idea that participation trophies are handed out with consistency among all children, and that they poison our youth by staining their concept of winning, is a theory that's both bogus in actuality and predicted outcome. While Montessori schools and progressive neighborhoods may not keep score during kickball games, the overwhelming majority of youth sports leagues DO keep score and announce a winner at the end of the competition. Still, Coach Walz proclaims that the "problem" with this generation is that they get too many participation trophies. This weakens them, he says. This weakens, you guessed it, America.
Trophies for young athletes are meant as a means of congratulating them for effort, not propping up a fake victory. Does this guy even know a 9-year-old? They aren't dumb. They know who wins and who loses. Just because they are tinier versions of grown-ups (save Limp Bizkit inspired facial hair) doesn't mean they are self-delusional because they were handed a $3.25 piece of plastic after losing 13-5 in youth soccer. Like you and me kids don't enjoy being manipulated and fight hard to distinguish themselves from each. THEY ARE ALWAYS KEEPING SCORE.
And if they do get something shiny for their efforts, so be it. Trophies for 9-year-old semi-professional tee-ball players at the tail end of a highly stressful, parent-driven season might be the one actual thing they have to show for their time spent handling an over active mom and dad.
(Side note: Say it is happening at an epidemic level? Who does Coach Walz think is handing out the trophies? His generation, not 18-22 year olds on his girl's basketball team having to suffer through his shortsighted public lashing.)
Maybe it's best for Coach Walz to think of a participation trophy like he does his college degree. Let's not-so-boldly assume that Coach was not top in his class. Let's say he wasn't in the top ten percent. Does he still get a degree? Should we withhold his degree because he didn't "win" at school? Acknowledging effort isn't weakening sports or culture any more than printing a degree for someone who I'm certain consistently confuses irony and coincidence. (Irony being that he blamed his kids for not taking responsibility for their play, by -- as a coach -- not taking responsibility for the loss. )
After writing this on Monday I read what a former wrestler and educator had to say about the incident and found it enlightening.
The idea of participation trophies being the downfall of our generation (or the next one, I'm not sure how what I count as exactly) is a canard. I've never encountered any child (aside from the VERY young) who liked receiving a participation trophy. Most of them were in fact keenly aware that they were being patronized. I don't think this has affected their moral fiber. On the other hand, some of the most deplorable and entitled human beings I have met have been highly successful athletes; who would have thought that being glorified for your athletic success from a young age would lead to this? I digress however; and this is hardly the case for the majority of such people.
Whenever you throw around the participation trophy rhetoric and try to generalize "big life lessons"; you are using language that has been specifically coded to make you feel like a big, tough, man and to reinforce the idea that you are competition with everyone around you for everything. This Hobbesian conception of life is, in fact, not at all to your benefit. It's to the benefit of the people who are really running this world and getting rich off of your labor.
To your questions …
Mason Manville works to lift Tarrence Williams at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Iowa City (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Q: I was looking at the Penn State roster and noticed Mason Manville is not enrolled. Did I miss something?
-- Dave D.
Foley: This year Mason has been training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He competed at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Greco-Roman in April, where he finished 2-2 in Greco-Roman at 75 kilograms. He plans to head to Penn State next summer and wrestle for the Nittany Lions.
Q: How do you think Alex Marinelli (assuming he doesn't redshirt) and Michael Kemerer will fare this year for the Hawkeyes?
-- Jack E.
Foley: Michael Kemerer is already ranked in the top five at 157 pounds and scoring some early season wins. He doesn't need to win the NCAA championship in November or December -- just stay consistent and train up for the second half of the season. A finals appearance may be a reach, but he can certainly get on the podium.
Assuming Alex Marinelli comes out of redshirt, I'd guess he would compete within the top ten at 165 pounds. Winning the weight class seems highly unlikely, so I'm not sure that we can expect more than a low All-American finish from him in his first season.
In some ways I think the duo's performance could be a nice barometer for fans to judge the developmental process within the Iowa room. We've seen some great starts from the Penn State and Ohio State freshmen over the past few years. Can we expect the same from Iowa's heavy hitters? What will this tell us about Spencer Lee and his freshman campaign?
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Coach Walz has a raspy voice! Listen to that man! I'm kidding. Of course you shouldn't listen to him and his archaic ill-informed ideas on modern society and how to coach.
70-kilogram World Championships weight class preview
Q: What will be wrestling's "second story?"
-- Zach A.
Foley: I think we need to start with defining what wrestling's first story was, or has been. My mind immediately traveled to Title IX and the loss of collegiate programs over the past 40 years. No matter what you think of Title IX, the law itself has defined the sport of wrestling, twisting and turning it in ways that have been complicated to understand, but consistently discussed. Losing hundreds of programs, the setbacks for the women's sport and the millions of dollars spent fighting the legislation and its effects have dominated that larger social discussion around the sport for at least the last three decades.
I'm in Budapest right now (just landed, no sleep) preparing to cover the Non-Olympic Weight World Championships. That proximity and my role in helping to rebrand and promote international wrestling certainly inform my opinion on a second conversation. My initial thought was the rise in popularity of the Olympic styles. All the controversies aside, the sport is exponentially more a part of the sport's landscape (as in actual exponential increases in viewership, interest and discussion) than ever before. I think the styles and what they offer in terms of enjoyment are something being batted around a lot more since 2013.
Ignoring that as a possibility, I think wrestling's second discussion is almost certainly women and their massive popularity in the sport. It's sometimes hard to see the impact of women on the sport, but if you look back at the last two years of press regarding the sport of wrestling it was absolutely dominated by women. They were in major national and international publications, there were TV appearances and endorsement deals. There were also important firsts including the first African medalist, first Indian medalist and first Grand Prix champion from Africa.
How we greet, treat and discuss the inclusion of women in the sport is likely to dominate the discussion around our sport for the next several years. For now we are doing many of the right things. Maybe not fast enough, or well enough, but as a group we are all looking for improvement and equal opportunity in the sport and women are at that forefront.
Q: What if Worlds were held this way every year, as in splitting up the weight classes into two tournaments? You could even add 86 kilograms into the second tournament for a little parity in non-Olympic years. My reasoning is that the split championships have made these weight classes more exciting domestically with lots of guys moving up, some moving down and with most competing in both the Olympic trials and the Farrell. It makes for great storylines and for matchups we wouldn't get to see normally, plus some guys get two chances to make a World Team.
-- Timmy B.
Foley: As the sport grows at the international level and interest begins to drive more investment there is a great chance we will see an increase in meaningful matchups. The World Championships are currently the prize, but with more professional leagues popping up there could be room for these types of tournaments with a combination of cash value and intrinsic value that will force the types of storylines you enjoy as a fan!
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