Paper Plate Awards
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Anonymous
Put on your grownup pants and say something. |
Anonymous
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Our teams hangs them as decorations and they aren’t announced. Jr coaches only make them for kids who have rsvp’d to banquet (we make that know to encourage responses). They do carry a few extra plates in case of a snafu. The wall of plates looks extremely festive.
Also, teen coaches are learning how to do this job so plate awards should be reviewed by adults. We always have 1 or 2 that require redos. Once we explain why it could be misinterpreted, it’s a good learning experience for everyone. Kids make mistakes and the coaches frown from the experience. For everyone one of those, there are 10 plates that are thoughtful and more than the adults could come up with. And, to the earlier poster who said some are non- swimming related, at our pool that is fine and isn’t a negative. We have a big team and some kids contribute in other ways besides swim or have notable qualities not directly related but can be celebrated nonetheless. |
Anonymous
| *grow from not frown |
Anonymous
| I can't figure out how they could be all swimming related on a team where every kid gets an award. How could there be 100 different swimming related awards? |
Anonymous
Ours aren’t. They are given for things such as “Sweet as Candy”, “Most Spirited”, “Fantastic Duo”. |
Anonymous
At our pool they are quite often more personal than that. Sometimes it’s inside joke or funny thing that the swimmer and coaches know about. Maybe there’s a kid who always wants to get a donut at concessions and the coaches always have to tell him to wait until after this race. He might get the “NOW can I have a donut” award. That may be a lame example but on our big team they aren’t 150 swim-related paper plates. |
Anonymous
I am the person you are responding to. I was responding to the idea that somehow a non-swimming one is a bad idea. My kids are pretty good swimmers, and theirs are always for something silly and non-swimming. I love that. |
Anonymous
| The part that always blows my mind at our pool is the artistic execution. The paper plates are colorful and cute and really well-drawn / cartooned. We have some really talented big kids, I guess! |
Anonymous
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We only do positive and encouraging. Often, if we just remove “best” or “most,” the award works well without singling someone out. Here are ideas:
Beautiful smile Very encouraging teammate Wonderful listener Always likely to kick the hardest Kindness award Very supportive teammate Courageously likely to try new events Excellent attendance Resiliency award Awesome cannonball Huge splashes when kicking Likely to remember the drills Tremendous demonstrator Most likely to be on time Funniest swim caps Stylish Loudest cheerleader Incredibly helpful Funny sense of humor Confidence award Future lifeguard Positively competitive Phenomenal team spirit Earliest to practice Terrific improvement Fantastic laugh Super distance swimmer Excellent arm pulls Likely to remember everything Well organized |
Anonymous
It may be a joke to sone but they can be really hurtful. |