In recent years, there have been suggestions that we are coddling kids by giving participation trophies to all of the youngest children in a program. Also, that building self-esteem has not been shown to help young athletes when they grow up. The reasoning is that if there are automatic rewards or continuous praise, players may believe they don't have to work hard and do the best they can. This doesn't make sense. Would a child under 10 not give his or her all because it is specified that prizes would be given regardless? Are they thinking about the trophy as they're playing games during the season? Maybe one or two are but we bet they're trying as hard as the others. Further, our booklet, Build Your Child's Self-Esteem Through Sports, reads: "Policies of not recording wins, losses, or standings for the youngest players, when such policies exist, are not designed to protect them from confronting life's successes and failures. Rather, they're about building enjoyment of the game by trying to minimize adult issues like ego and too much emphasis on winning. Children will have plenty of time to learn about life's challenges. Let them have fun with with the sports experience and want to stay with it for as long as possible." With temptations in and outside the home, we want them involved in healthful activities. In fact, some kids have already learned about challenges away from sports.