Youth 1st Conduct Award teaches sportsmanship

Youth 1st is handing out around 60 awards this summer to teams around Southern Minnesota, and while the award may have the word “winning” in it, the trophy has nothing to do with victories. 
The Real Winning Team Award honors teams for their outstanding sportsmanship during summer tournaments. This involves players’ conduct on the field, but it also includes coaches and even fans. 
“We developed (the award) to establish a league environment that highlights sportsmanship,” said Youth 1st Director Mark Arjes. 
During each game of the tournament, deserving teams receive a vote from the game umpire. They may vote for one, both or none depending on the amount of sportsmanship displayed during the game. At the end of the tournament, umpire votes are tallied to determine the winners. 
So far this summer, four teams have received the award in Steele County, including: the Owatonna U11 Silver and Blue baseball teams, the Owatonna U14AA baseball team and the Medford U13 baseball team. 
The program is only in its second year, but Arjes said it is expanding quickly. 
“This year we’re rolling it out on a wider basis,” said Arjes. While Owatonna, Medford and Albert Lea were the guinea pigs for last year, five more cities have been added, totaling 12 tournaments overall. The program also awards teams in other sports, such as hockey, football and wrestling.  
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Ajres, adding, “We’ll have about 60 teams this yaer in baseball and softball.”
In addition to numerical growth, Arjes said the program has had an immediate effect on the summer tournaments.  
“It was noticeable right from the start, as soon as we started doing it,” said Arjes. “We got comments from umpires and tournament directors saying that it made the atmosphere more positive.”
Arjes added that to help bolster awareness, posters are displayed around the sports complexes and coaches are handed business cards prior to each game to remind them that both coaches and the umpire need to work together to keep a positive environment. 
“We need to recognize value-based actions,” said Arjes. “The whole point should be teaching life lessons, developing values and building character. We see this program as our outreach to begin those character conversations.”
One way Youth 1st is able to continue the conversation is by presenting teams with their award at their local hometown field. Arjes said it is a neat opportunity that helps promote positive sports competition. 
“It’s one of the neatest things that we do,” said Arjes. “We recognize the people and kids for doing something right.”
As part of Youth 1st’s partnership with the Minnesota Twins Community Fund, each team is presented with free tickets to a Minnesota Twins game as a thank you for promoting sportsmanship. 
Arjes said that about 1,200 free tickets would be handed out over the course of the summer. 
“We really appreciate their support,” said Arjes, who also noted the programs partnerships with the Owatonna Parks and Recreation department, Bullpen Club and Walser Foundation, along with others around southern Minnesota.