No Participation Trophies! Why We Made Our Kids Run a 5K

Welcome back to Rollin with the Dolans! In this episode, we dive into kids and sports—how much should parents push their kids to be active? Should kids be required to participate in sports even if they don’t want to? We break down our real-life experiences, including Patrick taking all four of our younger kids on a mandatory 5K (semi-mandatory, as he calls it) and the mixed reactions from others about our approach.

We discuss:
✅ The balance between encouraging kids and forcing them into activities
✅ How to support kids' athletic pursuits without burnout
✅ Whether participation trophies are a good or bad thing
✅ Why staying active should be a lifestyle, not just for athletes

Should parents make kids participate in sports? Should every child get a trophy? Drop your thoughts in the comments!

📌 Chapters:
0:00 - Welcome & Today’s Topic
2:10 - Why Our Kids Had to Run a 5K
6:45 - Should Parents Push Kids Into Sports?
12:20 - How to Support Kids Without Burnout
17:35 - Participation Trophies: Yes or No?
22:10 - Encouraging Kids to Be Active
28:00 - Final Thoughts & Wrap-Up

💬 Let’s keep the conversation going! Find us on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram for more real-life discussions on family, marriage, and parenting.

🔔 Subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode!

 #KidsAndSports #ParentingTalk #ActiveKids #BlendedFamily #InterracialMarriage #FamilyPodcast #RaisingKids #NoParticipationTrophies #HealthyLifestyle #RollinWithTheDolans 

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Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome to Rollin with theDolans.
I'm Patrick Dolan and I'm TamekaDolan.
Our podcast focuses on the joysand challenges of blending
families, our interracialmarriage, parenting children of
multiple ages, and the journeyof entrepreneurship.
We share our daily lifeexperiences with a positive but
real perspective.

(00:21):
And today's topic is focused onkids and sports.
Okay.
Alright, I'm gonna start.
Is that okay?
Yeah.
Okay, so this past SaturdayPatrick took all four of our
small kids on a 5k.
And it was mandatory that theygo.

(00:43):
Semi mandatory.
You didn't give them a choice.
If they severely, if they reallyobjected, I would consider it.
But it was pretty much, it wasexpected, I think would be a
better word.
Okay, so thankfully all the kidsparticipated and it wasn't like
we had to pull a leg to do it.
But, I wanted to talk about thison the podcast because when I

(01:06):
talked to a couple of my clientsabout it there was like some
mixed, views on it.
Probably let's start, let'srewind back and say what your
involvement is in running.
So I've been doing it probablysince I was about 9, so I've
been doing it for over 40 yearsand that's in a similar way my

(01:26):
dad would be like, Oh, there's a5k coming up.
So I, basically a week or twoahead of time, I might do a
little bit of training and stufflike that and get, but it was
just relaxed.
It was fun.
It was I was never feltpressured to do well.
It was just going out there andhaving a good time basically.
Okay.
So because your past or incurrent, not, because you still

(01:47):
run.
And my clients said, no, youwere like not everybody just one
was like just because he likesrunning doesn't mean that the
kids would like it too.
And my response was How can ithurt them that they're having to
get up and leave the house by 8a.
m.

(02:07):
to go do a race?
What would your response be?
I don't expect them to like it.
And I don't expect them to, tryto push themselves during it.
It's more or less you just getout there.
It's three miles.
I believe that, basically up tothe point that you're 70, 80, I
think you should be able to goand, Walk three miles if you

(02:27):
have to.
So it's just go out there,you're with other people.
It's a different experience.
It's a different event.
It's easier to go walk threemiles when you're surrounded by
hundreds of people.
Then when you're just going outthere and say, Hey, go walk
three miles to the neighborhood.
So it's just, it's more or lessto get used to being able to go
out there and do something thatcould be minor.
So yeah, I gained them to pushthemselves and gain them to,

(02:50):
basically try to win the thingthat's different.
So I don't go that far.
we should also add that all ofthem are athletes, and so my dad
told all of them that becauseyou guys are athletes, you
should always be conditioning,so it wasn't just you that were
pushing them, it was my dad,too, which I agree.

(03:12):
Do you agree with him?
I go a little bit beyond that.
I don't think you have to be anathlete to, to, Be to the point
where you should be able toexercise for 45 minutes once a
week.
Yeah, because I'm not anathlete, but I do exercise, but

(03:33):
I do exercise.
Okay.
Mr.
Dolan has made some questionsthat you got from chat GPT.
Did I say it right?
Yeah.
Just some random things based onthe topic.
Yeah, okay.
And there's I don't know, like50 of them, but the one that
stuck out to me is, and hedoesn't know the question.

(03:57):
You ready for it?
Oh, I'm ready.
Okay.
How can parents support theirchildren's athletic pursuits
without causing undue stress orburnout?
That's being flexible.
I think that we are veryflexible for, not pushing.
For one, we had one kid whowanted to play soccer.
And, did I expect him to beplaying in Europe as a

(04:18):
professional?
No.
Let him go at his own pace whenhe was done with it.
He was done.
I wanted him to do somethingelse because I think that, you
need to be active and doingthings, but, I didn't think that
he had to keep pursuing, clubsoccer.
Okay.
That's fair.
That's fair.
But, do you agree that if theycommit to a sport, they have to

(04:39):
commit to a sport?
For that season, at least.
Okay, so what does that mean?
I think that, like if, once yousign up and you try out and
you're like part of the team,then you have to be trying.
I don't think you just, oh,okay, I'm just gonna sit there
and, play video games on myphone while everybody else is
practicing.
Okay.

(05:00):
Alright.
That was my only question Ithought this was a good topic
because I assume that it was agreat thing that you made the
kids go out and Participate.
I think the only pushback isthat it was 8am, but to actually
get out and participate wasn't aproblem.

(05:21):
It was just 8am and it was coolout that they weren't fans of.
I have more questions.
Oh.
Oh.
Okay.
So I feel like I've, Done alittle bit too much talking in
this one, so a little bit foryou.
So what do you think if you havekids who would rather stay at
home and not do any sports, eventhough you do believe that they
have some athletic talent andshould be That would be a hard

(05:41):
no for me.
That would be a hard no.
They would have to get up and beactive.
Okay, and Yes.
How would you persuade them?
If you take some devices awayAnd some things that they enjoy,
magically, they want to get outand participate in a sport.
And here's one that I know theanswer to, but how do you feel

(06:02):
about participation trophies?
That would be a hard no as well.
You are required to participateand everyone does not get a
trophy.
And what do you think?
Oh yeah definitely.
The funny thing also, Imentioned I've been running for
forever it wasn't until 10 to 15years ago, they started giving
anybody who finishes a 5k amedal.

(06:25):
I'm not completely opposed tothat, because I think that some
people it's a big deal too, butIt used to be like, okay, you'll
get a medal if you finish amarathon.
That's about it.
Maybe a half marathon, but moreof a larger achievement.
Now it's like everybody gets amedal.
And that one, like I said, I'min between on, but, I would want
a medal if I ran a halfmarathon, and obviously I

(06:48):
wouldn't have the same pace asyou have.
Yeah, I would want you to have amedal for half marathons.
That's what I said it used toalways be, half marathons, was
like a pinnacle.
I'm gonna shoot to try to dothat, and then once you get to
that achievement, you get thatmedal.
And then a marathon, definitely,you've been getting medals
forever.
But it was more recent years,they'll do it for a 5k.
And they'll do it for shorterraces, they'll give you a medal.

(07:10):
But, to me yeah, those wouldusually just get thrown in a
box, but it's different, but atthe same time, if you're going
to do one 5K a year, and if thatmedal helps encourage them to do
more hey, I want more of thesemedals, then I would say, hey,
that's a good idea, keep givingthem a medal so that's what it's
all about, is trying to getpeople to, to want to do the
things and keep doing them sothey can maintain a healthy

(07:33):
lifestyle.
I agree.
Alright, let's wrap this up.
Okay.
All right, you go ahead.
You want to wrap it up?
The main thing is what we liketo say is tune in next time.
Look for us in, wherever youfind your podcasts and add us to
your list so you can hear usagain soon.

(07:53):
And we do some things on othersocial media, YouTube, TikTok,
and we love to, get peopleinvolved in our conversations.
So if you see us posted there aswell, chime in and give us your
thoughts.
And until then.
Have an absolutely wonderfulweek have oh my goodness.
Do you hear the dog?
Okay, have did you say what wasyour edit?

(08:15):
I just did wonderful.
What do you say Kuma?
Do you want to talk Kuma?
No.
No, he wants to lick themicrophone Okay, so have a
magnificent week and until nexttime