Questions from a first time team
 

Ok we are only a second year team and this will be our first year at nationals. Basically I was just wondering if there was anything we should know before going? If there was one (or more) piece of advice you could give us, what would it be? Oh and just how hot is it down there? cause we got black shirts and we are debating going lighter colors for the heat. Lastly how are the divisions split up?? Basically I just want to know if I'll get to see all my buddies from SBPLI down there or will they be scattered into the other divisions?

Florida is hot, but not incredibly so. There are teams there that survive with black shirts. But, I would suppose someone from that area would be better off telling you the weather. You should know that it is guaranteed to rain at least once while we are down there. I've gone to nationals 4 of the last 5 years and its rained each time. The 1 time it didn't rain was when I wasn't there. I am going again this year, so it should rain ;)

The divisions are split semi-randomly. I've heard that FIRST tries to keep regional winners seperate, but the rest is completely random, so it is unlikely that all your buddies will be in the same division. However, all the pits are still in the same tent; its not like your friends will be scattered all throughout Disney World.

The best advice I can give is to work hard and have a blast! :)

Sometimes Florida gets Cold
 

At the 2000 Nationals, the mornings were freezing!!! I was shivering with a sweatshirt on, and to make things worse FIRST had the air conditioning on in the Pits. By the afternoon, they got the air conditioning turned off, but it warmed up, so we spent the rest of the afternoon burning up.

So the long and the short of it

Be prepared for any weather conditions

Hey. Last year, they split up the teams in the regional playoff alliances into different divisions, and I happen to think they'll do the same this year, so we won't be together. (See you in the final four.) Yes, it is very hot outside, but we lived in black work shirts down at KSC for three days, so it's not crucial that you switch. Most of the competition takes place inside the air-conditioned tents anyway, so you're out of the sun unless a Frisbee game is necessary.

As for weather, it's erratic. On Friday last year it was perfectly sunny outside, and then it poured on a biblical scale for half an hour, and then it was immediately sunny again. Just be prepared, and even though you're in Florida bringing a sweatshirt for the early morning can help.

Weather....

This year, they've gone back to having Nats later in April. It's gonna be hot. In the mornings, yes, it can be chilly. FIRST likes to blast the AC in the pits, and so when you first get in there, it is freezing.

The splitting...just because you won't play with all the teams you played with before doesn't mean you won't have time to go and bug them in their pit area. Just think of 4 big regionals, where there's one big pit. It's fun...

As for things you should do while there.....

Definately go and walk around the pits. I'm looking forward to seeing different drive trains, as some teams will have spare drive trains there for display. I plan on checking out Wildstang's crab drive system, they will have a spare one for display too.

I don't think there's any way to do everything that there is to be done in one year. This is my third year, and I'm still finding new things to do all the time.

Florida weather will be hot. Though the pits in the morning are really cold, outside in the heat is awful. During the final matchs when we were watching the other teams, we wanted to just be in the pits so we could cool off but that barely happened.

You should be fine with black shirts as long as you keep hydrated.

For the most part the divisions are done randomly except for the regional winners thing.

Haha! Last year we played in the rain - it was so much fun! We even dragged some of our engineers out there to play in the rain with us... It was fun while it lasted, but we were all FREEZING afterwards! If you're going to play in the rain, bring a change of clothes and/or a jacket ;) the weather last year (I thought) was pretty nice). The pits were really cold thogh. I'm planning on keepi8ng a sweatshirt handy when I'm in the pits :) Shorts are good though. One girl on our team got sick from the heat because she wore pants all day and didn't drink, like, any water the entire day! Bring **plenty** of waterbottles for yourself and make sure your teammates are drinking water too!

My $.02

- Katie