I can understand why they would be upset over subjective awards, like most improved or swimmer of the season. Those are pure popularity awards. |
Ah, ok. Our team has social events at least once a week during the season, so we do the paper plates at the last one before divisionals. |
"Aren't deserving?" We are talking about a simple acknowledgement that you exist and are seen and worthy. Every child should get one. You have no idea what a difference little things that say "I see you" can make in some child's life. |
Why would op be confused? The event is literally called “end of season awards ceremony.” It’s not a banquet. People come for their children to get an award. |
Most improved isn’t subjective. You can run a report in swimtopia that tells you who has had the greatest time drop. That’s what is used for most improved by our team. |
You CAN do that, but some teams don't. Swimtopia doesn't take into account other subjective aspects of improvement. Its all coaches' discretion. Regardless, this thread is about paper plates awards. Personally,nice seen them range from cute to insulting. If want to do them, fine. But don't do them at a banquet when you know it won't end until 11:00 pm or later. Kids and parents need their sleep. |
You should bring this up with your rep, this is not what we do and based on this thread, we're not the only ones who do not do this during the banquet. |
^Awards person. This is what we do for most improved. We base it on time drops. |
This is the bad mindset parents have these days. My kid deserves special recognition for pretending to show up and be part of the team. Expecting coaches to sink time into someone’s paper plate who didn’t put any time towards the team is ridiculous. I think it would be a very valuable lesson if the kids who don’t attend don’t get paper plates. Parents can explain if they show up more next time they can earn one. |
Not a bad idea. You must show up to practice at least 3x a week, as well as swim in 3 A or B meets, during the season to "earn" a paper plate award. Club kids won't care about paper plate awards, and kids who don't show up to practice or most meets may not bother to show up at the banquet. |
Dealing with disappointment (fair or not) and moving on is a skill. |
Is a club swimmer who does A meets & some social stuff and rarely practices with the summer team (but contributes, or tries to contribute, points for the team to win A meets), less of a team member than a swimmer who practices often with the summer team and attends B meets? |
I value that B kid over the A kid. But I do like if the club kid comes to team socials and is spirited, not just a Saturday only kid. Kids who just show up on Saturday’s or kids who sign up for team but don’t do any practices or meets are not really part of the team. |
Why not? They contribute to the team winning meets. If it weren't for their club swim, they wouldn't be as fast. |
We grade swimmers on the following criteria:
1. Swimmer Type and Performance (Max: 40 points) Club Swimmer: Has AA or faster times: 40 points Slower than AA: 30 points Non-Club Swimmer: Has faster than BB times: 30 points Slower than BB: 20 points 2. Social Events Participation (Max: 15 points) Full participation (e.g. attends 5+ events): 15 points Moderate participation (3–4 events): 10 points Minimal participation (1–2 events): 5 points No participation: 0 points 3. Meet Participation (Max: 25 points) Attends 5+ A/B meets: 25 points Attends 3–4 meets: 20 points Attends 1–2 meets: 10 points No meets: 0 points 4. Family Volunteering (Max: 20 points) Regular volunteering (multiple meets or roles): 20 points Occasional volunteering (once or twice): 10 points No volunteering: 0 points maximum is 100 points. We levy double the registration fee for the following season if points are less than 60. Just kidding. |