Trophy

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For the vehicle protection system, see TROPHY Active Protection System

Some loving-cup trophies seen in the London Irish clubhouse at Sunbury in 2002. The one in the centre is the Powergen Cup.

Image:Bjorkman and Woodbridge winners Wimbledon 2004.jpg

A trophy is a reward for a specific accomplishment, 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 accomplishments in sport.

1 Trophy types
2 Sporting
3 Military
4 Hunting
5 See also

[edit] Trophy types

A trophy is simply an object (compared to a flat plaque or ribbon) designed to be used as an award, usually mounted or manufactured for display. It can take the shape of loving cups, bowls, or mugs (all usually engraved); statues of people, animals, architecture, or anything else; displays of words or numbers; or anything else left to the imagination of the trophy designer. For example, the Academy Awards Oscar is a trophy with a stylized human; the Hugo Award for science fiction is a space ship trophy; and the Wimbledon award is a large loving cup.

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.

[edit] Sporting

Some sporting trophies include:

Wimbledon Cup Trophy — Tennis
FIFA World Cup Trophy — Football
America's Cup — yacht racing
Heisman Trophy — NCAA award for best player in college football
BCS Trophy for national championship team in college football
Stanley Cup — NHL hockey
Commissioner's Trophy — MLB baseball
Vince Lombardi Trophy — NFL American football
Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy—National Basketball Association
Football League Championship Trophy — The English Football League
The Ashes — Australia-England Test cricket
TNA X Cup — A Professional Wrestling trophy exclusively at TNA Wrestling for an X Division wrestler.
Mann Cup — An Indoor lacrosse trophy awarded to the senior men's lacrosse champions of Canada.
Steinfeld Cup — MLL lacrosse.
Champion's Cup — NLL lacrosse.

[edit] 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.

Trophy is also the name of the new anti-RPG system to be mounted on armoured vehicles.

[edit] Hunting

In hunting, trophies like those mentioned above can be awarded, although a class of trophies specific to hunting also exists. These trophies are obtained from the bodies of game animals. Often the heads or entire bodies are processed by a taxidermist, although sometimes other body parts such as teeth or horns are used as the trophies. Hunting for the singular purpose of obtaining trophies is often considered improper today. Such trophies have also been produced from humans in cultures that accept cannibalism or when two societies clash in war. Again, this is not acceptable in modern times, and generally goes against the rules of war.

Commencing in the 1970s and 1980s in the United Kingdom, USA and some other western countries, a pejorative association began to be assumed regarding the process of hunting for trophy. By the year 2000 there is widespread consensus in animal welfare organizations and in segments of the population as a whole that trophy hunting is to be discouraged. Many of the 189 countries signtory to the 1992 Rio Accord have developed Biodiversity Action Plans that discourage the hunting of protected species.