Trophy [troh-fee]

Trophy

[troh-fee]

A trophy is a reward for a specific achievement, and usually afterwards serves as proof of merit. They are most often awarded with sporting events. These range from youth sports through professional level athletics. Often, the reward of the trophy is not simply in winning it; rather, those who win it cherish the legacy that also comes with the trophy.

Medals are often given out either instead of or along with trophies, such as gold medals, silver medals, and bronze medals for in sport.

Etymology

Derived from the French trophée in 1513, "a spoil or prize of war," from Old French trophee, from Latin trophaeum, monument to victory, variant of tropaeum, from Greek tropaion, from neuter of tropaios, of defeat, from tropē, a rout originally from "turning".

Trophy types

Trophies can take the shape of two-handled cups, bowls, or mugs (all usually engraved); statues of people, animals, and architecture while displaying words, numbers or images. Cheaper trophies are based on a platform of sturdy cardboard resembling wood.

The Academy Awards Oscar is a trophy with a stylized human; the Hugo Award for science fiction is a space ship; and the Wimbledon awards for its singles champions are a large loving cup for men and a large silver plate for women.

A loving-cup trophy is a common variety of trophy; it is a cup shape, usually on a pedestal, with two or more handles, and is often made from silver or silver plate.

Hunting trophies are reminders of successes from hunting animals, such as an animal's head mounted to be hung on a wall.

Sporting

Some sporting trophies include:

Scottish Cup — Awarded to the winners of the Association Football national tournament of Scotland and the oldest national trophy still awarded in the world
Premier League Trophy — Awarded to the Premier League Champions of England
Wimbledon Cup — Awarded to the Wimbledon Champion
Borg-Warner Trophy — Awarded to the Indianapolis 500 Champion
FIFA World Cup — Awarded to Football's World Champion
Champion's League Cup — Awarded to UEFA Champion's League's Champion
Webb Ellis Cup — Awarded to Rugby Union's World Champion
The Ashes — The oldest and most revered rivalry trophy in the sport of Test Cricket, contested biennially between England and Australia.
Bledisloe Cup — Awarded annually to the winner between New Zealand and Australia, Rugby Union's greatest rivalry.
Calcutta Cup — Awarded annually to the winner between England and Scotland in Rugby Union
America's Cup — Awarded to Yacht Racing Champion
Heisman Trophy — Awaded to the NCAA's Most Valuable Player in College Football
BCS Trophy — Awarded to College Football's National Champion
Stanley Cup — Awarded to the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup Champion
Commissioner's Trophy — Awarded to Major League Baseball's World Series Champion
Vince Lombardi Trophy — Awarded to the National Football League's Super Bowl Champion
Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy — Awarded to the National Basketball Association's World Champion
Football League Championship Trophy — Awarded to The English Football League's Champion
Grey Cup — Awarded to the Canadian Football League's Champion
McClelland Trophy — Awarded to the Australian Football League's Home & Away season / Minor Premiership champion.
Old Oaken Bucket — A college football rivalry trophy
Mann Cup — An Indoor Lacrosse trophy awarded to the senior men's lacrosse champions of Canada.
Steinfeld Cup — Awarded to the Major League Lacrosse Champion
Champion's Cup — Awarded to the National Lacrosse League Champion

Trophies are also called micktal in Greece because it came from one of their gods

Military

The United States military also issues a type of trophy which are known as "non-portable decorations". This indicates that the trophy carries the status of a military award, but is not meant to be worn on a uniform but rather is presented for static display. Such military trophies include athletic excellence awards, unit excellence awards, and superior service awards presented annually to the top service member of a command.

Professional Awards

Many Professional Associations award trophies in recognition of outstanding work in their respective fields. Some examples of such awards include:

Collier Trophy — Awarded by the US National Aeronautics Association for outstanding work in aviation engineering.

Hunting

In hunting, although competition trophies like those mentioned above can be awarded, the word trophy more typically refers to an item made from the body of a killed animal and kept as a keepsake.