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Originally Posted by ladyfighter  However, with all competitions your students do stand a chance of walking away with nothing at all  |
Of course. That's sort of what makes it a "competition."
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Originally Posted by ladyfighter Most open tournaments do not offer "spirit medals" for those who participate but do not place. |
Thank goodness. That kind of nonsense guts the very purpose and steals the most imporant lessons from competition.
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Originally Posted by ladyfighter Try encouraging your students by providing your own spirit medals for those who do not place at the tournament. |
I could not disagree more. The whole point of competition is that someone wins and someone loses. Take that away (or try to hide it behind BS 'you did good anyway!' prizes) and you take away the motivation, inspiration, and learning potential of competition. That sort of thing is silly and pointless even for little kids, but I shudder to think that any self-respecting adult (or older kid even) would accept such a hollow, condescending insult. That would be reason enough to stay away from any given tournament.