Participation trophies.

I'm not a fan.

They're bad for kids, bad for parents, bad for society.

Other than that, they're okay.

Don't get me wrong.

I love any kind of organized competition for kids.

I lived and breathed baseball, basketball, football,

and soccer growing up.

If there was a sport to be played, I played it.

And never once did anybody ever tell me

that winning was not important or that showing up

was all that mattered.

But today, kids get a different message, losing no big deal.

Showing up, that deserves a trophy.

Wow, what an awful thing to tell a kid.

Glad my parents or coaches never said it to me.

If they had, I'm sure I never would have become a pro soccer player.

Let me tell you why.

In high school, I was a good soccer player.

I thought I could play soccer in college.

Looking back though, I just wasn't good enough

in those college coaches' eyes.

...