I told my friend once that the best part of golf was the trophies. She looked at me and asked, “What’s so important about shiny empty cups?” It took me awhile to figure out why that statement made me so angry. Perhaps it takes a person who has won before to understand what a trophy is.

When playing sports one doesn’t “play the game”, they work at their game. They practice for countless hours until their muscles are sore, and mentally they are drained. Athletes work towards their dreams every single day, dreams that others call stupid and unattainable. Amongst the practice sessions that could make others blanch, an athlete is given the chance to participate in tournaments or competitions. They are there to win, but it’s more than that. They are there to prove that it was worth all the lost sleep, missed parties, movies, and even some lost friends along the way. Athletes compete to show they are the best. They have the calluses, the tan lines, and the work ethic to make them stand out in a crowd. When all athletes compete, they are there for blood- they will win no matter what it takes.

Winning at sports is something so empowering that it leaves an empty feeling inside the athlete. It makes them hunger for more. They need to win. They need to prove they are doing what they are supposed to be doing and what they love isn’t just a pointless hobby like so many onlookers claim it to be. And once a person wins they get a trophy. That trophy is not just a shiny empty cup.

A trophy is a symbol of determination, hard work, patience, perseverance, dedication, and shear will power. To sum up all of the feelings that go along side of a trophy as just a shiny empty cup is a cruel and unreasonable understatement. How could a shiny empty cup grow dreams in the youngest of children, and bring happiness to the oldest of spectators? A shiny empty cup could do no such thing. A shiny empty cup has no meaning. It could never compare to a trophy which is hardly empty. Shiny empty cups could never hold dreams of the future and memories of the past. A trophy is filled with the athlete’s dedicated life.