Chuck Lucas (right) receives the IAL World Championship trophy in 2009
I got an email from my friend Dom Provisiero who is the commissioner of the O.Z. League in New York. He’s trying to get some ideas for trophies for his league.
For most of us, bragging rights is reward enough for being the victor in an APBA league. That said, I like the idea of something tangible to hand to someone for a job well done. It’s symbolic, yes but it shows the winner that the league values their hard work and talent (and maybe lucky dice).
I’d thought I’d share what our Illowa APBA League does in terms of managerial awards. If you have certain ways to show your appreciation, feel free to tell us about it in the comments. At the end of the article, there’s a link to submit a photo 
of any trophy or plaque if you want to share it.
Each year, the IAL hands out two physical awards to managers. The first is a trophy to the manager of the World Championship team (the winner of our World Series). It’s a simple trophy that they get to keep. The trophy you see at right is the one I won for winning the 1999 IAL World Series (thank you, Mark McGwire!)
The second is a plaque which goes to the winner of the Manager of the Year winner and is voted on by all managers. The full name of the award is the “Dale Smith Memorial Manager of the Year Award” named after an early member who was taken from us way too early (the Smith dynasty lives on though. Two of his brothers are currently in the league).
The difference with the Manager of the Year plaque is that it is a “traveling” plaque. When a new winner is announced, the new winner’s name is engraved in the next empty spot and it’s passed on to him to be kept for the year.
Side story: Recently, we had a three-way tie for Manager of the Year. That year, the plaque indeed became a “traveling” plaque. Fortunately, we all meet three times year so each manager kept it for roughly 1/3 of the season.
One final thing we did… we inducted our commissioner Mike Bunch into our League’s Hall of Fame. THAT was a special one-time event. Mike knows APBA inside and out but the reason we put him in our HOF is because of his dedication to our league and how well he keeps our organization running. Anyone who knows Mike and our league knows how deserving he is of the honor.
Some trophy/plaque tips:
- You can order trophies/plaques online but when it was our turn to buy it, we just went to a local trophy shop. I guess I felt better about knowing what I was getting.
- Even if you are filling out a written form, print out what you want it to say. Spelling mistakes look tacky.
- A “traveling” plaque or award should last you a while as long as you leave enough spots to engrave (just avoid 3-way ties in any votes).
So what do other leagues do for awards? Do you award other categories besides championships and manager of year? What about gift certificates (or better?).
Let us know! If anyone has any cool trophies or plaques you want to share, you can post the photo on The APBA Blog Facebook page or submit to me at this page.
