Do you remember the pizza party you had at the end of a tiring sports season in elementary school? Maybe you’re the one hosting those parties nowadays!
These parties often feature an awards ceremony, where medals and trophies are given out to players on the team! There is some debate over whether everyone deserves a trophy, but is there really any harm in giving young kids a pat on the back for their hard work?
You spend hours, on the backend, planning, strategizing, and many even use Sports league management software to make sure that every aspect and experience of the game is premium for the kids and their families. Frankly, anyone can order a generic trophy, but it’s much more thoughtful to create a custom designed trophy for your kids. Not everyone is a trophy-making expert though, so how do you go about ordering trophies in bulk?
We’ve got you covered! Check out our guide below to learn step-by-step how to order trophies for your child’s sports team!
Determine Your Budget and Timeline
It’s important to set a budget before you get too far into the trophy-making process. Some professional trophies can cost thousands of dollars, but no one is expecting you to spend that much on little league trophies! However, you don’t want to design the perfect trophy only to find that you can’t afford to buy enough for the whole team.
You can get trophies for as low as $3 through some suppliers, but just know that the quality of the trophy will correlate with how much money you plan on spending. The better the trophy and customization, the higher the price. Get a quote or two if you still aren’t sure how much you should be budgeting.
For smaller teams, you might be able to afford to splurge a bit on trophies. If you can, ask the other parents to pool money to buy nice trophies for the whole team!
As far as timelines go, you will want to plan on ordering trophies at least two weeks before the end of the season. If you want a highly customized design, you will likely have to collaborate a bit with the company you work with.
Many companies ship out the orders within a couple of days, but it may take a week or more for the order to be complete. The engraving process can take a while, so don’t put off starting the trophy-ordering process until a week before your child’s season ends!
Decide on a Design for the Trophies
This is probably the most fun part of the trophy-ordering process. You want to choose a design that will be meaningful and represent what the kids excelled at.
If you’re getting trophies for different achievements, such as Best Team Spirit or Most Improved, decide whether you want to get different designs to distinguish the achievements from one another. It’s okay to just get one design and change up the engraving, but different designs might make the award ceremony process more fun!
When choosing a design, you’ll have to decide on a couple of things. If you want to get something more like a figurine, you will want to find a figure that best represents the sport. You don’t want to choose a basketball player figurine if your child has just finished up a softball season!
If you want to nix the idea of figurines all together, acrylic trophies are an awesome alternative. You can typically get acrylic trophies in glass or crystal. Award plaques are also available for a more sophisticated design.
Acrylic trophies are perfect if you want to add a splash of color to your design. They are a great choice for kids who will want to display their colorful trophy on their dress or nightstand.
Once you’ve come up with a design, sketch it out or type up any ideas you have for it. Then submit it to the trophy company you’ve decided to work with. If you don’t feel like you’re up for the design task, many companies allow you to choose from pre-designed options. Or you can simply reach out to a company to help you come up with a custom design!
Create the Perfect Engraving
Perhaps the most important thing on the trophy will be the engraving! This will be what the child looks back on years after receiving it to remember the excitement of playing sports with their team!
If you’re getting the same trophy for every member of the team, you will only need to come up with one general engraving. For these its best to address the entire team.
If you’re getting trophies for each player, you will want to include a few extra things. Address the child who is receiving the trophy. Address why they are receiving the award. Lastly, include the date. An example of this would be:
Presented to John Doe
for Exemplary Teamwork
October, 2019
You could then tweak the same basic format for each separate trophy you create. If you are still stuck as far as engravings go, the company you work with can probably help you come up with something meaningful too.
Submit Your Complete Idea
Once you’ve worked out both the perfect design and engraving, submit your desired ideas to the company you’re working with. They can then take your vision and make it into a finished product!
Many companies will give you an image predicting what your final product will look like. After it’s approved, they can get to work engraving and finishing up your trophies.
Make a Lasting Memory
Sometimes it’s hard to remember little details from our childhoods, but certain objects will take us back to the good ol’ days. Memorable trophies can trigger these memories for your child and their teammates. And when you team is ready for some team building for sports teams, try out this venue in Chicago.
When you put time and careful consideration into your trophy design, they can become cherished objects that your child will carry with them into adulthood. If nothing less, they will inspire them to work hard and play harder!
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