You can not play football with only one person against 11 other people, the odds must be balanced for a fair game or else it's just cheating. it's just not fair for one person to get a trophy, when everybody worked hard for it. Without everyone else that one person cannot triumph. Everyone should get a trophy that deserves one, if you attend all the practices and games, but still not the greatest of players, then you should still get a trophy. All that matters is how hard you worked and how much fun you had doing it. You could get a specialized type of trophy that everybody would receive which shows your strengths such as "greatest line backer" or "Greatest comedian". Participation trophies should be for those kids who actually participate, that's why it's called a participation trophy. The People who say they are "Part of the team", but never attend any games or practices shouldn't get anything. They didn't work for it like everybody else, and the trophy would mean nothing for them because they haven't actually worked hard for it. The kids who worked hard until the end, but didn't receive anything to show for it could really blow their self