„Das Schlimmste ist ja Teilnahmeurkunde“

The paper deals with certification in the context of Federal Youth Games from a theoretical perspective of subjectivation. Due to the controversial and sometimes polemical public discussions about the pedagogical relevance of the Federal Youth Games, the research focuses on their addressing relevance within the framework of general school performance logic. The study examined the following: the recognition norms that the certificate provides in the sense of objectified knowledge of the students’ achievements and also how the students themselves regard their positions because of these certificates and how they deal with the roles given to them. An address analysis was conducted on the certificate itself and via group interviews with fourth grade students who participated in the Federal Youth Games. The findings describe a ritual which is both obligatory and traditional, and which propagates specific levels of athleticism and skills that are largely unquestioningly subscribed to and that are also described as being socially relevant. The empirical findings not only offer perspectives for further research but also starting points for sport pedagogical reflections on the school event.