LINDEN HOLLOW, Ohio — A Linden Hollow parent formally requested an instant replay review of his son’s participation trophy Thursday night, telling officials of the Linden Hollow Youth Soccer Association that the 7-inch gold-colored figure did not “accurately reflect the level of participation that took place out there.”
The request was filed by Rich Albrecht, 44, a regional sales manager, at the under-8 summer league’s end-of-season ceremony at Corley Park, moments after his son, Mason, 7, received the same trophy as the 113 other children in the division. Albrecht submitted the request on the back of a juice box carton and threw it onto the field, which league rules recognize as a challenge flag.
“Everybody’s a winner. That’s the whole point. But somebody is more of a winner, and I’d like that looked at,” Albrecht said. Asked what specifically he wanted reviewed, Albrecht said, “The participation. All of it. Every angle.”
The phrase “everybody’s a winner” was also used, in full, by Mason’s coach, Phil Garza, in his remarks to the team: “Great season, guys. Everybody’s a winner.” To test the claim, the Reporter obtained the division’s final standings. All 12 teams finished 0-0-11, the league having stopped keeping score in 2019, which places every team in a 12-way tie for first and, by the same arithmetic, last. The Reporter asked Garza whether that made everybody a winner. Garza said yes. The Reporter asked whether it also made everybody a loser. Garza said he had to go get the orange slices.
League Commissioner Denise Rourke granted the review, which was conducted at a folding table behind the snack stand using footage from 41 parents’ phones, four of them held vertically. The review took 3 hours and 12 minutes and concluded at 11:48 p.m. Rourke announced that the ruling on the field stood and that Mason had participated, “fully and with enthusiasm, and for about 40 percent of that time in the correct direction.” The footage also showed that during the third game of the season, Mason’s trophy, which had been delivered early and left on the bench in its box, entered the game in the second half and was involved in a goal, which the league does not count, and was credited with an assist, which it does. The trophy is now the division’s assists leader with one. No child recorded an assist all season, as the league stopped tracking those in 2021.
Dr. Marjorie Teller, director of the Center for Measured Outcomes, said the Center’s review of the footage measured Mason’s participation at 94.17 percent, against a division average of 94.17 percent. “Every child participated at exactly the same rate, to two decimal places, which is either a remarkable achievement in fairness or a sign that our instruments only measure trophies,” Teller said. She said further study was needed.
Albrecht has appealed the ruling to the association’s board, asking that the trophy’s assist be transferred to his son. The board has scheduled a hearing for Aug. 6, at the conclusion of which every party to the dispute will receive a certificate.
Mason, reached at a teammate’s birthday party Friday, said he had liked the season, especially the part with the bubbles, and did not know he had a trophy.