Category: Trophies

When someone is presented with a trophy or award, it is usually to commemorate a special event or accomplishment, so there is an emotional link to the trophy. It becomes a symbol of the special event much like a wedding ring symbolizes a marriage. In and of itself, it has little trophy value, but as a symbol of a significant event or accomplishment, it has immense value. Trophies and awards are items where the cost or commercial value is extremely low in relation to the ultimate personal value. The value may diminish as the years go by, but it never goes away.

For this reason, when you are purchasing a trophy consider not only the actual cost of the trophy, but the trophy value – the value and worth it will bring to the person who receives it for years to come.

Little League baseball is an American family tradition. You yourself may even look back on your own experiences with a nostalgic warmth. Do you want to provide that same experience for your own children? How can you explain to them why it’s such a great pastime?

Parenting is full of choices. Some of these choices are fun and some… not so much. One of the more challenging choices for some families is how to get your kids out of the house, get some exercise and join in with something. Sports is great exercise and socially very rich, but it can be a tough sell to the kids.

Modern children have a distressing tendency to stay home, or stay at a friend’s home, indulging in the new entertainment technologies that the 21^st Century has to offer. But we all need to get outside once in a while and interact with people who are not made of pixels on a computer screen or TV… right?

It may be that there is a strong tradition of sports in your family, if so, this isn’t something you will ever really have to think about. Sports is an automatic part of your life. But what if that’s not the case? What if your family never really engaged in sports, but you think it might be a good idea? What are the real benefits of something like Little League?

Family Sports Tradition

Let’s start with a little history. Little League was founded by Carl Stotz in 1939 as a small league in Williamsport, PA, and started composed of just three teams. Over time it has grown and spread in popularity into a nationwide league and the largest organized sports organization in the world. Children between the ages of 4 up to 18 years old can participate in the league.

It’s well known that many Little League baseball players leave the league to go to high school and continue to play. Sometimes they even go on to play college baseball and turn professional. It’s potentially a career path for those talented and enthusiastic enough to pursue it.

So it’s recognized that Little League is organized, healthy and potentially can result in high earnings way down the road. But these notions may be meaningless to a 4 year old going into the program. How can you sell it to children that this might be one of the most rewarding things they ever do?

Why Play Ball?

First of all. there’s the fitness aspect. We call it “exercise”. Children call this “play”.

As adults, we know that there are some alarming statistics on childhood weight problems. Some say as many as 30% of the child population is obese or overweight  (Source: Trust for America’s Health). Even without the statistics and scare stories about weight, it’s obvious that active kids are healthy kids. You need some reason for them to get outside. Bottom line, baseball keeps kids active and the game itself is play.

Another worthwhile upside of taking part in a sport that is watched by others is confidence. Children love to be watched showing off that they can do stuff, showing mastery of their world. But staying in too much damages their social skills and makes them uncomfortable being observed by people. Playing ball in front of an audience gives them confidence, and even makes them enjoy attention. This feeling of confidence and self-awareness can carry over to the rest of their daily life.

In addition, being out there on the field is a potent lesson in teamwork; you can’t win a game on your own. You have to work with others, enjoy the company of others and begin to learn how to get along with other people. This is a positive and a negative. Rivalry in groups can cause friction and difficulty. Learning to get past these problems and forge friends from rivals is a valuable life lesson.

And finally  –  although it’s in danger of fast becoming an archaic concept – there’s the idea of sportsmanship. In this day and age of instant gratification and sore losers, it’s vital to educate kids in the ideas of winning and losing. But also doing so with grace. Yes, that is a slightly old fashioned concept, but is it a meaningful one worth perpetuating? Absolutely.

Get Involved

You can even make it a family bonding exercise if you yourself get involved in organizing the local league, or just helping out as a volunteer. It’s a great way to spend time with your kids, get to know other kids and parents in your area, and generally provide the glue that keeps people together working for common goals.

Whatever you decide to do, and however you end up pitching it to your children, Little League is packed with good stuff for kids to learn and grow. It will be something they will, like you, look back on with pride and warmth.

Oh, and it’s really good fun!

Further Reading

• The Little League web site contains details of their programs
• Choose from our range of baseball trophies

As ice hockey fans everywhere follow the fight for the Stanley Cup, we at QuickTrophy dedicated the week to hockey in all its forms: ice, field, and ball/floor hockey and some of the well known hockey trophies.

Many of us who grew up in the United States played floor hockey in gym class, without ever realizing it was a serious, competitive sport in its own right. Variously called indoor hockey, ball hockey, or floor hockey, amateur and semi-pro leagues are open and accepting players. If you hate skating, but love the dynamic, punishing gameplay hockey has to offer, why not give it a try?

Field hockey’s another option. Played outdoors, with specialized sticks, field hockey is often treated as a women-only sport in the United States, despite offering serious competition at the international level for both men and women. The sport’s gradually opening for co-ed play, thanks to a handful of brave young men, but there’s a case to be made that separate leagues are the next step to seriously grow the sport.

If ice hockey is definitely your game, however, consider taking it to the next level by joining the North American Hockey League’s Junior Program. Keep your health and safety foremost as you train, of course, but the only way to really push into a professional or even semi-pro career is by seeking out greater challenges… and bashing them to the ice.

There’s a lot of genuine concern surrounding athletic training and kid’s competitive sports. Hockey, especially, can be as punishing as it is rewarding. It’s important to keep health and safety foremost in your mind, as a coach or parent, while encouraging the kids to push and challenge themselves. USA Hockey has a smart, scientific review of youth hockey training regimes on their website:

In recent years sports scientists have spoken out emphatically about the harmful effects of premature and over-intense athletic training of young children. Many complain that hockey programs for youngsters are too intense, competitions too many, seasons too long, emphasis on winning too great. Young children are pushed by parents and coaches to choose and specialize in the sport way before they are mature enough to do so.

By keeping the developmental conditions of each age group in mind, it’s entirely possible to design intensive training routines which minimize the risk of injury to young athletes.

Hockey fans in North America are following the Stanley Cup fight from the edge of their seats. The Cup has one of the more interesting histories among iconic trophies, which parallels and reflects the development of professional hockey over the past century.

“I have for some time been thinking that it would be a good thing if there were a challenge cup, which would be held from year to year by the leading hockey club in Canada. There does not appear to be any outward sign of a championship at present, and considering the interest that hockey matches now elicit, I am willing to give a cup which shall be held annually by the winning club.”

So mused Lord Stanley of Preston in 1892, at a sports banquet in Ottawa.

The first cup was a fifty-dollar silver bowl, held by the victor only so long as they could defend it. All serious contenders were welcome for the first eighteen years of its existence, before ice hockey went pro and competition formalized.

The Stanley Cup evolved into it’s current, iconic design in 1948. Prior to that time, the winning team could add their name, year, and team members to a ring on the cup, adding a band each year until the trophy grew to a size and shape it was nicknamed the Stovepipe Cup. Now, when a ring is full and new one needs to be added, the oldest ring is retired and put on display in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Many customers have emailed and called us at QuickTrophy to see if we could offer a Stanley Cup replica for their Fantasy Hockey League. When we investigated this, we found we could get a full sized, Stanley Cup replica, but it would cost many hundreds of dollars – edging up to the $1,000 mark. When faced with such a steep price tag, our customer’s interest waned. We’ll keep our eyes open for a cheaper alternative, but such a massive piece of hardware will likely always be expensive.