Paper plate award horror

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is a paper plate award?

A disposable award written with marker and illustrated. Unofficial things like “cutest couple” for two bros who are always hanging out. Or something referencing a funny thing that happened that a coach observed. Rarely serious.

[Anonymous]

I remember growing up and never getting a paper plate award. My brother always got one, my best friend always got one, a couple of other long-termers on the team got a few over the years, but I never got a single one.

I'm still jealous and bitter about it. Why wasn't I enough to get an award? I never said a single funny thing? I never tried my best? I never even entered the coaches' minds when making the awards?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who are these teams that give Team Reps this level of power. They are supposed to work out any meet related issues with the guest or host team, not oversee coaches. That's rediculous that they have that authority.

Team reps apparently have the power to impose discipline on parent volunteers and ban swimmers from meets. They're like an HOA board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember growing up and never getting a paper plate award. My brother always got one, my best friend always got one, a couple of other long-termers on the team got a few over the years, but I never got a single one.

I'm still jealous and bitter about it. Why wasn't I enough to get an award? I never said a single funny thing? I never tried my best? I never even entered the coaches' minds when making the awards?

Yes to all these. Therapy is your only hope

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think they are stupid but younger kids like them. Even the HS swim team does them. Our summer team has the teen coaches do them, mostly during unpaid time, which is wrong.

My daughter is a teen assistant coach and while she loves everything about summer swim, she and her fellow coaches spent hours and hours making paper plate awards for every kid on her team. A truly massive amount of work.

My daughter also was a longtime coach. So time consuming to make for the full team. The kids who show up everyday and have personality get great and funny plates. The children who come once or twice a season get “ray of sunshine” to fill up a plate even if they aren’t deserving. Some kids only get a paper plate for recognition if they aren’t a good swimmer. I wish there was a simple way to means test paper plates without singling kids out or hurting feelings.

[Anonymous]

If you have a buncha team social events like we do, do the paper plates at one of those instead of the banquet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a buncha team social events like we do, do the paper plates at one of those instead of the banquet

Bingo. Don't do it at the banquet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you have a buncha team social events like we do, do the paper plates at one of those instead of the banquet

Doing it at an earlier social event would cut off a few weeks of opportunity to make the plates, but also time to get to know all the kids to come up with good ideas for all of them.

[Anonymous]

I’m surprised by the comment that team reps just have their friends work with them. We have an enormous team and a large board. And I still feel overwhelmed as a rep. I truly welcome all the help. If a parent said I want to do paper plate awards with the coaches, I’d welcome the help because I have zero time at the end of the season.

[Anonymous]

This is hilarious. My kid's team (not swimming) had captains do the paper plates and one of them included an unintentional (antiquated) ethnic slur. Everyone involved was mortified, none of the kids had heard it before, and the adults all gasped.

THAT'S a horror, OP. Not this.

[Anonymous]

You can volunteer to be in charge of it next year !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious. My kid's team (not swimming) had captains do the paper plates and one of them included an unintentional (antiquated) ethnic slur. Everyone involved was mortified, none of the kids had heard it before, and the adults all gasped.

THAT'S a horror, OP. Not this.

That is also a horror, I agree. But so is team leadership deciding to remove paper plates, which is a team tradition cherished by the kids (even though there are challenges). That is so sad and really disappointing. The team was not given any communication about this change, which is also wrong and disappointing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Horror would be a completely inappropriate plate or leaving just one kid out completely.

That would be better than no paper plate awards.

JFC. Do you know how many parents are bitter and complain about who got what award. That you are ok with a kid being left out entirely as long as your kid got a paper plate with some dumb comment on it speaks volumes about you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you have a good time at the end of season banquet? Maybe reflect on why your focused on team doing something different with the paper plates. No swim banquet should last more than 2-2.5 hours.

Notice that op referred to this get together as an awards banquet, not the end of season banquet. I assume she is a very confused individual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Horror would be a completely inappropriate plate or leaving just one kid out completely.

I’m still angry about my paper plate award I received in 1986. So embarrassing.

Relax, Mom.

Parents and swimmers alike have a right to be annoyed at inappropriate paper plates awards. Coaches should know better, but it's often done by team reps who are passive aggressive and are gunning for the swimmer's parents. The family is often gone from the team the next summer (which was the intent). In one case, the kid joined another summer team, started club swim, and ended up becoming a top club swimmer.

Adults who act this way towards kids are disgusting.

Seriously? You think team reps have the time to put together mean paper plate awards just to get at another family. The amount of perceived and/or actual "someone is out to get me (or my kid(s)" drama on summer swim is incredible.

I’ve seen this too. The passive aggressive adult behavior may not be from the team rep volunteer, but other volunteers in charge. It’s not drama or made up. There are plenty of adult volunteers who are doing this in summer swim.

Saw this in Little League with a coach's wife who gave a kid with autism an insulting plate. Adults often suck. I think it's wrong to expect coaches to do this. It is too much work.