Where to Buy Medals — Plus a Better Award Coaches Love

You can order as many or as few as you need — there are no minimums at Snapshot. Most coaches build a card for every athlete on the roster, personalizing each one with that player's photo and details. You can upload photos and customize cards one at a time. Single cards are $17.99 each. Pack options go up to $49.99. If you have a large team, it helps to collect photos in advance from parents so you're not chasing images at the last minute. Ordering in one session is faster than spacing it out over multiple orders.

You don't need a professional photographer, but image clarity matters. Snapshot's templates work best with photos that are in sharp focus, have decent lighting, and aren't excessively cropped. Most photos taken on a modern smartphone in decent light will produce a great-looking card. Action shots from games can work well if the athlete is the clear subject and the photo isn't heavily motion-blurred. Avoid screenshots from social media, which tend to be low resolution and produce softer results. When in doubt, use the highest-resolution version of the photo you have available.

Snapshot ships free to every state in the USA — all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. The company is based in Des Moines, Iowa, and handles printing and fulfillment domestically, which keeps shipping times predictable. Standard delivery runs 2-3 business days from order confirmation. There's no additional charge for shipping regardless of your location within the continental US, Alaska, or Hawaii. This matters for coaches running programs in remote areas or small towns where local trophy shops may have limited stock or longer turnaround times.

A standard Snapshot trading card is the same size as a traditional collectible card — pocket-sized, fits in a wallet or card sleeve, and ships in a free magnetic protective case. The MEGA card is 11 inches by 15 inches — oversized, poster-style, and designed to be framed or hung on a wall. At $49.99, the MEGA is best used as a featured award for a single athlete, like a season MVP or most improved player. Standard cards at $17.99 are ideal for whole-roster orders where every player receives a personalized card. Both print on premium card stock and ship free.

Snapshot's templates are designed to include more than just the photo. You can add the athlete's name, position, team name, season year, and stats directly on the card face. The templates carry that authentic sports-card layout — the kind that looks like something from a real card pack, not a novelty print. Exactly which fields appear depends on the template you choose, but most allow for enough customization to make each card feel genuinely personal and specific to that athlete's season. This is one of the main reasons coaches find these more meaningful than standard medals.

The magnetic case is genuinely included at no extra charge — it's not an upsell or a checkout add-on. Every card Snapshot ships arrives in a magnetic protective case. This matters practically because the card is display-ready as soon as an athlete opens it. There's no fumbling for a frame or a sleeve — it's already protected and presentable. The magnetic case is also what makes the unboxing feel premium. When a kid opens a package and pulls out a card that's already in a real case, it feels like a collectible, not a printout.

Custom trading cards work across all age groups, but the reaction tends to be strongest with younger athletes in the 6-14 range who are already familiar with collecting sports cards. Seeing themselves on a card that looks like it came out of a real pack is a genuinely exciting moment for most kids. Older athletes appreciate the personalization and the quality. Adult rec league players often love them ironically — and then keep them anyway. There's no age group where a well-made, personalized card falls flat. If the photo is good, the card is good.