@gengarmaster On the phpBB forums, Submitter badges were awarded automatically - as soon as a mainsite submission was accepted, your forum profile would be updated accordingly. We're still working on porting that feature to the MyBB boards.
Earning badges isn't something you should be stressing out over at all. If you want to earn badges, just participate in the community events for fun and maybe your skills will improve over time to the point that you can win. There is also such a thing as trying too hard and that will affect your chances.