Who were the best rookies?
 

Who did you think were the best rookies this year and why?

besides my team, my favorite rookies were 1002.

hope to see you guys at Peachtree again next year! you guys rule!

Yeah besides that team 1037. I liked team 1188 the Oaktown Creuz.

My favorite rookie team was 1023. They had a pretty reliable robot, and a really, really nice team :)

Our "baby-sister" team 1126 Webster Sparx.
They have taken alot of the things we have shown them and have taken them to heart and they will be a team to be reckoned with for years to come.
Heck they won the first regional they ever entered.

Look out for 1038 as well.
Alot of good people from 144 Who have their fingerprints in them and they will do great things as well.

Team 1038 is quality people. I met them in the airport and they were really nice guys. They also had a sweet robot with a nice auto mode.

I can't really pick any one specific rookie... They were all great... The rookies I liked the most though if I had to pick were

1156- couldn't really hold a good conversation with them unless their translator was around... but they were very nice and had a nice robot...

1089- another great team... we were allied with them in the new jersey semi finals... great team members and nice robot...

I liked 1031 and 1072 myself. They were good teams with good robots and good spirit of FIRST

Cory

Team 1073 really impressed me at the BAE regional, their bot was quality, and their strategy was bounds ahead of a lot of the experienced teams there. Not to mention they won a Rookie All Star and the Web-Site award, Way to go FORCE.




Chris
Proud to have survived my first year of college FIRST
229

I liked 1073 a lot too...

1218 really impressed me- they were the only one nobody could push off the ramp at philly.. and they eventually won

1113 was also a powerhouse- they pushed everyone around... and flipped us- thanks for helping us learn about our self-righting arm..

i liked 1108. I would have to admit that when i first saw their robot i couldn't figure out what it did, but somehow they were able to pull off some amazing victories and kudos to the driving, it was superb. I also remember seeing 1011 the first day of the phoenix regional and they had in my opinion a good rookie robot.

I didn't get to see many of the rookie robots this year. But from what I saw I have 3 favorite rookies. First of all team #1000 they were a good reliable partner at grand Rapids for us. Second would be team #1140 , they didn't make it to the championship the easy way. Another one would be team # 1188 they had a very simple design that worked very well. Everyone remember though rookies gain much knowledge in their first year. They always come back for their second year to suprise us.

1011
 

Team 1011, CRUSH was truly amazing. I could not believe their rookie spirit and amazing engineering acheivment considering what they had to build. One of their mentors told me they literally were using tools from toys r us I believe. Good Job you guys! They deserved that All-Star Rookie award in Az.

1089 for their amazing bot, especially for a rookie (better than anything our team could have created in their 1st year)

also pretty cool guys overall, they didnt have a piss poor attitude most teams get when things dont go their way, they took it all in stride

same goes for the very light hearted brazillians they were interesting characters

There were SO many good rookie teams this year. At the various regionals , I was very impressed by such teams as 1011, 1212 (who picked as for an alliance in AZ), and 1214 (ALL of the students in JUNIOR HIGH).

However, I would have to say that my favorite team BY FAR was team 1114. I was completely in awe and jealous of their stacker. When we were allied with them, we immediately gave them the task of stacking, even though that is normally the function of our robot. Their whole design was exceptional: not just the stacking mechanism, but the layout of everything, and their steering drive train.

haha, thanks. I dunno if I qualify to choose, but 1097 was really cool! we worked really well with them and their bot was cute.

I liked 1072. Their bot was cool, and their logo is interesting. And their human player is great at catching safety glasses.

1108 hands down
 

Same here! 1108 won so much in their 1st FIRST year. Absolutly Nationals Rookie All-Star. And what GREAT Team # 1108.

KA-108 :cool:

i was very impressed with 1038, so impressed that i picked them for our alliance. they had probably the best drive train of any rookie i;ve ever seen, and they could play koth a little with thier arm.

team 1114 was probably one of the coolest stackers around. i don't know if any other team was able to do what they did in the matches

I suppose you could say I'm biased because they're our brother school, but I have to say that 1097 was a great rookie team. Come on, they're two time Rookie All Star award winners. I thought they did an awesome job this year. GO LIL MOJO!

I liked team 1005. They had a good bot that did well at SLR and I hung out with some of them. They were really cool.

My favorite rookie team this year is team 1073 from Hollis-Brookline. Not only did they turn out a high quality robot that topped many of the old teams at the BAE regional, they cheered with the best of them, put out a very cool team website, and had amazing strategy. You guys are and will be a FORCE to be reckoned with in FIRST. Congratulations on your rookie year I look forward to seeing more of you in the future!!!!!

I loved team 1214. These kids came to the Houston competition without a working robot. It seemed desperate, most people would pack their bags and go home then, but this bunch of middle schoolers had resolve. The frame was welded by a six grader, the electrical work by an eighth grader, and all with no help from a mentor with engineering experience. Through their hard work and with the support of all the teams at Houston, their robot was easily driven by Saturday. The team also shows the true spirit of teamwork by rotating their driving schedule. Its not always about winning, its about what you learn, and this group WILL be a force to contend with in the coming years. But that's just my opinion.

GREAT ROOKIE TEAM
 

While there were many rookie that were impressive during this years competitions my hat goes off to TEAM 1011 - Team C.R.U.S.H. (Constructed Robot Under Severe Heat) from Tucson, Arizona. This team was started by 1st and 2nd year College students at the University of Arizona. These students when out on their own and got the team started raising the funds and mentoring primarily middle school students.

They attended the Arizona Regional and received the Rookie All-Star Award. Where the robot performed wonderfully, and the team didn't need seats because they were always standing up and cheering for everyone.

This team spirit carried over to the Nationals where on the Curie Field they ended up as the top ranked rookie team in 20th place. The robot work flawlessly in every match and the autonomous mode was awesome, working every time. Again seats were optional as the team was generally front and center cheering on all the competitors.

I was truly surprised, when no one in the top eight picked team 1011 as an alliance partner. Hopefully teams will put TEAM CRUSH -1001 on their scouting cards for next year - because they certainly were overlooked at this years championships.

Hear hear. Great robot, not just for a rookie team. If you got a chance to see it up close, the complexity and precision of some parts is impressive. I saw it stack 11!

1151
 

1151 was and is awsome. They built a very maneuverable robot that was fast and reliable. Their team was small but awsome, spending the last night, a school nite, fixing their drivetrain. They are a dedicated group of people, and you will be seeing them around next year because they are fundraising now, and are going to as many competitions as they can afford!

They also won the Xerox Creativity Award!

Definitely 1114 for being one of the best stackers, and also 1022, 1088, and 1108 for seeding first at regionals, and 1126, 1147, 1088, 1180, 1218, 1108, and 1140 for winning regionals.

Team 1191. They were at the Pittsburg regional. They had arrived with a robot that barely worked as the mentor told me he took over the team 7 days before ship. There had not been much done and the previous person hadn't put into it what was needed. The team worked tirelessly in the pits. They only made 3 or 4 matches during competition and in between spent time trying to fix more broken parts. After their last match tehy were so broken they knew they couldn't fix it in time for picking. They came in dead last in the regional. I went by to talk to them before lunch expecting to see a demoralized team. Boy was I shocked. This team was already pumped about next year and what they might accomplish. Maybe not the best bot but definately the best rookie team I came across. It is easy to be positive when your bot works but to be positive when you can barely make it run takes something real special. I take my hat off to Team 1191 and know that they will be a force to deal with in the future.

Every Rookie at the St. Louis Regional. Come on really st. louis has the most rookie teams of any regional and already they look good, act great, and have very competative robots.

Best Rookie Team
 

1108 looked great---Good job Mary, Dean, & Matt


We mentored them, we wanted to pass down the Nat'l Rookie All-Star that we won in 2000! We had a great time getting to know the Paola, Kansas team. They had a lot of fun too! We are looking forward to seeing them grow.

WAY TO GO Panther Robotics!

My ears are still sore from so many long telephone calls!

Tonya Scott
Team 476
Ponca City ADIDARONS
Oklahoma

2000 Lone Star Regional Leadership in Control
2000 Rookie National All-Star
2001 Lone Star Regional Driving Tomorrows Technology
2001 Lone Star Champs
2001 National Imagery Award
2002 Lone Star Judges Ambassador Award
2002 St. Louis Entrepreneurship Award
2003 St. Louis Imagery Awrd

1218, 35, and 1114!

All of these rookies rocked! We where paired up with 1218 at pittsburg for the playoffs, and we did one heck of a job! Hope to see our 2 teams agian next year!!!

1218, of the 3 regionlas and nationals that our team went to, your robot impressed me. Kinda hoped you woulda been on our alliance in pittsburgh. good luck next year!