Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

This is my fifth year in FIRST, I suppose that's beginning to make me an "old-timer". I was talking to Jane (always a good thing) and the topic came up that, as of late, there has been a change in the attitude of FIRST. I've noticed it in myself as well. I feel like when I joined FIRST, it was much smaller. When it was smaller, it was more intimate.

I find that now, it is becoming quite a "race to the top". Every team is trying to become the next 67, 111, or 1114. When a team is not selected for a tourament, they turn off caring about what's going on on the field and find something new to do. I admit I am one of the worst at this (as those of you who saw in Atlanta when we didn't get selected may have seen). When I first joined, and at the 1 competition I went to before I joined (my sister was on HOT), teams who didn't make it picked another team and cheered!

So the next point is, how to fix this? I think one of the starting points is to return to the intimacy. Obviously, we will never be able to be like before. There are many more teams involved now and that is a good thing. I think that one of the keys to returning to the intimacy, friendship, and general ideals of the program is to return to all teams becoming friends again.

So what I'd like to do in this thread is to ask each reader to call out which teams their team is friends with. Who are your friend teams? How do you support them? How does your team reach out and get new friend teams?

I challenge everyone who reads this thread to reach out to the teams in their surrounding area. Get together and do an outing with other teams. Get to know them, their students, their mentors. Awhile ago, Barry posted his Bonzack challenge, so I'll call this the Sweet Challenge. Go out, and make friends with as many teams as you can and post about what you've done!

PS. Mods, I know this may sound like chit-chat, but I'm really very serious about this. Can we please leave it in General, at least for a little while?

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I will start this off by saying that i must agree whole heartedly with you on this subject! Well at SparX we have our big sister team 191 and our other sister team 1450 who we always cheer for and cheer with and even go out to dinner with, plus enjoy plane and bus rides together! then there is team SparX newest friend team 340 who we have begun to grow quite close to! we have done one demo with them so far and have at least one more planned. we also try to keep in touch with teams we have been alliance partners with! such as team 316 and 73 this year from FLR as well as team 1038 from Buckeye(who we have know and competed with since our first year). Also 229 who we have gone out to get ice cream with last year after Championships! i would encourage other teams, as well as my own, to keep in touch with teams and build friendships with other local teams!

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Team 648 is closely related to team 107. It has been this way since one year we were on an alliance with them in eliminations and we hung out for lunch, since then we've shared the same hotel several times, held pizza parties together, played games, watched movies, and all manner of other things together while at competition. This of course is in addition to rooting for each other when it wouldn't be against ourselves.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

We cheered for each other in the matches we did play against one another, too.

Here are some more examples of our unique friendship with 107:

• West Michigan last year, 107 invited us to Holland Christian High and we played Halo, had a pizza party, and watched a movie.
• Midwest 2007, 648 brought a taste of the QC, Whitey's Ice Cream, and shared it with 107 in a party
• Midwest 2007, some members of each team played a giant game of Twister on a mat that we made.
• Atlanta 2007, after not making eliminations, nearly all of 648 moved over to Archimedes and cheered on 107.
• Atlanta 2007, 648 shuttled several members of 107 to the GA Dome in the mornings.

And who can forget? LAV IS AMAZING! Just ask Lacey.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

294 always cheers for beachbots (330) (even in the San Diego finals against them).

We also support 687 as they have several mentors that our friends with ours.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I totally agree with you Beth. This is something that all FIRST teams can benefit from.

Our team (1577) and "Hamosad" (1657) have the same teacher that mentors us (he is our only adult mentor, and manages to run both teams by sleeping about 2 hours a night during build season ;) ). The members of our team last year considered them as our biggest rivals, and we had to be better then them at everything (which is a pretty childish attitude). This year the teams really became good friends, and we both help each other out whenever possible (recently they drove an hour with their robot and mini rack to help us out with a demo we held in our city). We also plan on having a barbecue with them when they return from Atlanta.
I think both teams would agree that they benefited greatly from this friendship.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I see this in my team all the time. They want to become a well respected team but then only foucus on the robot. They never reach out and socialize with other teams, unless its about chasis designs, and they never make friendships. I on the other hand normally choose a team at a regional event and hang out with them all day. By the end of the day I should know at least half of the people on the team. Of coures i still cheer for my own team, but now i get a second team to cheer for.

My team doesnt understand that just being at a FIRST robotics event is a great thing. I look forward to the event itself rather than the chance of being number one.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

The Martians have been around awhile, and in that time we have made some friends that have really helped us become who we are today like our pals 503, 469, 2137, 191, and 71. Each of these teams have been very important to our history and our team.

503-You guys always push us to our limits when we play. We love competing with you guys. The friendship that has formed in the past two years between us is something that we love and would never want to lose.

469-Wow, you guys have always been a team we have looked to and admired, for your strong robots and strong members. Seeing you guys everywhere is awesome. Playing with you this year was definitely a highlight.

2137-You guys acomplished so much this year, and you taught us so much. Your passion and drive to just field a robot was something that most teams lose. I was more inspired by their students than any other person place or thing this year. THEY GET FIRST

191-The love our students have for you is something that is really almost creepy. Most of the students from 05 have graduated and moved on, but throwing out the X-Cats X is still a popular trend on our team. One of these years we will be back at FLR and the two of us will get back to our winning ways.

71-We owe a lot of our success to these guys. They picked us in 2004 at Championship, and the rest as they say is history. Whenever we see these guys, we love to play with and against them. They are truly a FIRST FORCE.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

MORT <3 POJO (Team 1302 from Pope John Regional High School)
We started their team in 2004 and have cheered for them ever since, even when against them in the semifinals at NYC. (They gave us one of their champion medals in thanks, which was pretty cool of them.) Ours doors are still open to them, and they need only to ask.

MORT, Tigers, and Bears, OH MY (Team 1251 the Techtigers and Team 247 DaBears)
Last year we had a wild ride to nationals at the Palmetto Regional with these two amazing teams. We yelled, we screamed, we owned, and we owe it all to each other.

Pascack Pioneers (Team 1676)
In the last two years, our team and theirs have developed a mutual respect, strengthened by one outgoing team member from the Pioneers. (If you're reading this, Hi Lizzy) She met a few of us at the New Jersey FLL competition and she's kept in touch since.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

We have our friendly resident Baker who walked around getting other teams shirts and sitting in on their meetings. He is our "go to mingle guy" of a sort.

I made a few friends here and there, mostly just people who stopped by a few times. Plus the two safety Captains that I had met before were awesome... If I can remember is was a Randy and a... crud, I cant remember the other guys name but they were cool.

Plus at the regionals we go to we talk with the usual teams. And who can forget the onesided rivalry between us and 254...

Through all this I have noticed the sort of withdrawl of excitement and spirit in the event. It might just be that this year I was superglued to my pit, ambushing anyone who didn't have their safety glasses but maybe not. And next year I plan to actually take a break once in a while and maybe mingle with Baker.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Heh.

Momo's pretty much correct -- I'm the guy who wanders around pits (or in the case of nationals, our hotel) and socializes with other teams. One night I even wore a 694 (Stuypulse) shirt and stood in during their team meeting at the Marriott Marquis. That was interesting. =D

I'd say that 675 is on pretty good terms with 100, 114, 670, and maybe a few others (sorry, I've seen upwards of 400 teams this season... that's a lot of unique numbers...). Only really one of those teams is because of me almost exclusively (Team 100, I talked to their safety captain a lot).

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

1188 has always had a good relationship with 65, starting from back when they helped us get started (before my time).

Back in FLL, the Dragon Devils had a very friendly rivalry going with the Imperial Icebergs, and the mentors from the teams are happy to see each other at FRC and off-season events now.

Personally, I've made friends of students, mentors and alumni from many teams. It seems that any event that I work at, I find a new team to add to my list, often a rookie team. (And I probably shouldn't list them, because I'll forget somebody, but here goes anyway): 1, 33, 47, 67, 217, 226, 247, 314, 397, 469, 503, 573, 830, 1015, 1114, 1504, 1941, 2283. Some of those teams may not even know me by name, but every time we saw each other as they checked in at queuing, or asked something at pit admin, or whatever our conversation might be, I was impressed by their friendliness and GP.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

This is what i love about FIRST, The ability to becoem aqauanted with so many teams. Personally, whenever 1188 or 47 are around i like to cheer for them and talk to them. During Nationals I looked up from the field and seen a sea of red where we were sitting. Team 66 came over to where we were sitting and cheered with us which was a surprise because i never would have expected that. Our team has always had good standings with lots of teams and when Ken can go up to teams and just start talking like old friends it makes me glad to be on the Huskie Brigade. I suggest that everyone on a team go talk to other people on teams, get to know them and try and start a bond between teams. FIRST teams are to closely related to not have a bond between some other team.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I really think that because of IndianaFIRST, the IN teams really pull for each other. With the Statehouse visits, workshops, and random friendships between teams, IN teams get a lot of interaction with each other. From 45 to 2277, most of the mentors are connected and we've got good working relationships with each other.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

A bunch of us were with the 45 gang at Galileo rooting them on, a couple of us with our Technocat shirts on. After they lost we ran over to Curie to support 234 but they were out so we ran over and cheered for 71 the last Indiana team left.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

862 has alway been pretty close to 470 and 815, More so in the past though. We've gone to demos run by 470 for years, Ypsi Fest is always a blast.

We always stress having FUN at competitions regaurdless of results on the field, we're 0-14-0 at the Championships the last two years, team had a blast both times.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I noticed the same thing Beth was talking about at the Championships. It was not that way at VCU. When the elems were going on everyone was cheering for someone. We are still new to FIRST, but getting older :)
We are frends with 1610, 1095, 343 and also have several teams we have worked with that are great. We had a chance to play with Pink ( 233 ) at the championships and that was great. Our students are learning a great deal from being around older teams. One thing we do is try to help out when we can. We carry alot of stuff to the competitions and are always willing to give others what they need if we have it. I think the word is getting out, because we had not been in out pits in ATL long before others teams started comming for parts -- it makes us happy to help. I would say all teams are our friends -- we love FIRST !!

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Let me just say that 1251 is friends with many of our older and younger Florida teams and teams out of Florida. We try to keep in contact with all our old allience partners from out of town too such as 11,25,247,301,845 and 1270. We owe a lot to the older Florida teams espeically 179 and 180 for always inviting us to there preseason scrimmage. Just recently 86 presented us with a beautiful poster commeorating our 07 Florida regional win and 1270 made it to Einstein so we went down to hang out with them in the good seats. We try to meet and help out all the rookies in our area, this year we helped out a second year team by providing them with some gearboxes and FIRST engineering backround. Finally, we are supporters of 25 RINOS program since 2005.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Our old rivals are all friends now. Here is a list of some of the teams we have close connections to and have cheered for over the years: 173, 175, 177, 178, 181, 195, 229, 236, 571, 716, 809, 839, 1124, 1511

We also met some great teams this year: 25, 180, 1114, 1305
And some amazing rookie teams: 1991, 2054, 2056, 2064, 2104, 2166
And of course 2067 The Apple Pi's, with whom we shared our return flight adventure!

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Team #558 has made quite a few connections over the past two years. First there's 358, the Happauge Eagles, who shared their scouting program with us and even helped us figure out how to run it after we were their alliance partners in the finals of the 2006 UTC regional. And of course 181, Birds Of Prey, who were our other alliance partners that year and rooted for us this year as we won that same regional. Our neigbors in the pit area that year, 695 from Stuvysent (sp?) h.s. shared their awesome fundraising packet with us this year. Can't say enough about 195, who chose us for that winning alliance and then helped us get to the nationals by shipping all our gear down. They are also giving us some great fundraising ideas. Then there's the Avon Uberbots, 1124, who posted some very nice compliments about our bot this year on this forum. And, finally, Apple Pi, our close neighbor in Guilford. It was great seeing you guys play so strong at nationals. We were cheering for you all the way. As our team grows and develops, hopefully we'll be able to spread the wealth by sharing our knowledge with other teams as well. That's what FIRST is really all about.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

At WMR, 2054 won the Rookie All Star Award, but they were not planning on going the championships. One of our mentors went over to their team and asked if they would like to share our bus and hotel with us and they agreed. Both of our teams had a tremedous amount of fun on the bus ride down, the hotel and at the competion. Afterword, we traded email adresses with each other to be able to keep in contact and are also planning to do some workshop type activities over the summer together.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I suppose that if 1618 had any formal "friend" teams, it'd have to be 1293. While I'm not officially a 1293er these days, I tend to keep in touch (to the point that my user title on their message board is "The 1618er who never quite left"). Judging by the Billfred chants some of the older kids keep doing, I guess they don't totally hate my guts out. Additionally, we've swapped parts and ideas over the course of the season. Our network grew a little bit when we drafted 1102 and 801 at Palmetto; though the teams might not have interacted too much on Saturday afternoon due to the hectic schedule, I hope at least the drivers had a chance to interact a bit more.

Personally, however, my list of friend teams is a little bit longer. If I've got friends on a team, odds are that I root for them (matches where my team faces theirs notwithstanding, but you know how that goes).

(Oh, and to put a spin on cheering for other teams, try cheering for teams that aren't even at the regional. Barry Bonzack and I did it Saturday at Palmetto, aiming for the Florida teams with chants we remembered (SPAM, ComBBAT, Exploding Bacon, etc.), and it was pretty fun.)

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

*ears perk up* Billfred chants?

I'll have to remember that.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

My "alum team" has tried hard to establish relations with area teams. Since leaving them I have discovered lots of FVC teams, and of course, there's all my NEMO connections - like Jenny says, "they're all my teams" - where else but FIRST would you be able to meet people from all locations and walks of life? One of these years I'm going to come through with my promise to organize a summer mentor retreat so we can all become friends, no robot/competition/chaperoning duties involved! :)

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I would so take a bullet for anyone on team 469! MY HOMIES!!! And a shout out to my brothers in Staten Island (team 522) you guys rock!

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

SPAM's sister team is 179 (SwampThing)... located about 40 minutes south of us, and we share sponsorships with 1523 (MARS) and 1842 (Twisted EGO.) A few SPAM alumni went off to UCF and helped start teams up there, including 1902 (Exploding Bacon.) Sadly, we lost our coolest mentor to a new team this year 1889 (HAZE)...but that just gives us another friend. And of course....... each year we make new friends with our alliance partners, like 79 (Krunch) and 233 (PinK)!

The finals this year at the championship kept SPAM standing nearly the entire time. Florida teams stick together. Oink, Oink, Think-Pink, SwampThing!:D

...and we can't forget our summer Mayhem buddies, down south...like 1251 and 108 (nothing better than switching our number signs during each other's matches)

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Yeah.. Thunderillas forever :D A lot of people from 217/469/1114 are good friends with each other. We're also pretty good friends with 27, team Rush. Nothing will ever beat the sweet danceoff at the wrap party =D

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

One of these years I'm going to come through with my promise to organize a summer mentor retreat so we can all become friends, no robot/competition/chaperoning duties involved! :)[/quote]

I know a great beach resort that would be a fine place for a mentor retreat!!!!!

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

our team is still pretty shy with the whole meeting other teams and becoming friends with them, so as a team we don't seem to have any other teams to talk to lol as "friends". I myself made friends with team 854, 1535, and 781 this year, and now that the rest of the team has taken notice of the GP around during regionals, (although our number isn't a rookie number, only two of us weren't rookies, the teacher involved was even a rookie :D) my team seems now to show an interest in getting to know people and getting involved in the community a bit more. Unfournatly for us, we are the only team in our region. lol. Guess that means we are starting up some teams lol :P wish us luck!! and you can expect us to be much more social next year!!

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Friends,
Over the past 12 years Team 47 has had the honor of getting to be friends with many teams – really, far too many to list without forgetting some.
Here are few examples of Friendships that without FIRST wouldn’t have happened.

Once upon a time there were 2 very competitive High Schools from the same city. To say that they disliked each other was an understatement, with years & years of bad blood authoring their history. Pontiac Central (47) vs.Pontiac Northern (65)
I’m sure many can relate to this kind of cross town rivalry.
FIRST teams from both schools have bridged this divide, with mutual respect – and are often seen cheering each other on. FIRST has proven to be the common bond pulling teams together instead of pushing them apart. A great moment indeed, when Ken Patton and the team aligned together with us to win a regional – a few year back. Go Huskies!

This year our team saved money by sharing a bus and hotel at Atlanta with Team 33 Killer Bees. I’m sure there was a little apprehension amongst the students at first, as neither had ever really “gotten to know” each other – The mentors and coaches had many years of experiences together while competing in FIRST and OCCRA.
I wasn’t able to ride the bus with them, but I was told that at the end of the trip the students had bonded well enough together that goodbye “hugs” were not uncommon.
Team 47 loves the Killer Bees, Jim Zontag, Chet, Jerry, and all of the rest.

12 years ago, Team 47 was mentored by one of the original FIRST teams from Kokomo, Indiana. Even though we were literally hundreds of miles apart, the Techno-Kats showed the Chiefs – how to do this the right way, and they’ll always be our role models. Andy Baker, Mark Koers, and all the others - Friends forever.

Throughout years some of the most fun we have had has been competing with and against “our friends” from great teams – 111 Wildstang (we think we love you) and 71 Beatty/Hammond (you guys never cease to amaze us), 27 Team Rush (proud to be pit neighbors throughout the past 12 years). Bill and Brian Beatty, the Nobles, Raul, Dan Green, Al, Denny, Kyle, Anthony, Jimmy – good times and good friends.

On a personal note – a long time ago on a very snowy night Team 88 TJ2 helped us find our way to Manchester for a Kickoff. Moe socks and good times ever since! You guys are “wicked” good friends and always will be.

Mike Aubry
Chief Delphi

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

As attested earlier, luckily for the teams at VCU, this isn't a terribly huge issue at our regional. Despite it being a whopping 66 teams, most teams have several other teams they are friends with and cheer them on later. If people stop cheering, it's typically because their voices are gone, and they can't anymore. :rolleyes:
116 has strong relationships with a few other teams, namely 612, 1002, and 1885. 612 is our neighbor team, only about 20 minutes down the road from us. We mentored them their rookie year, but didn't really have much student-to-student contact after that for a while. Last May though we did a demo with them at the Air & Space Museum, and some new friendships formed again. We've since run more demos with them, cheered for each other, gone to our Board of Supervisors together (and are going again), socialized, used their practice rack, went to Dave & Busters, and are planning more demos/activities.
1885 were our alliance partners at VCU this year, and were pitted just across the aisle from us at Championship. Each team kept checking up on the other through-out the event, and we helped each other whenever we needed it. These guys are a class-act team, and we really can't wait until we can compete together again.
1002 had been coming to VCU for years, but we didn't really become closely associated with them until we went down to their home regional of Peachtree in 2006. Our vex teams became very close, and the rest of the team made friends as well.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Throughout the years the Hammerheads have always been friends with other teams, but 226 formed a really close friendship with 1447 and 515 this year during our co-build. We call ourselves the Three Scrooges with 226 as Curly, 1447 as Larry, and 515 as Moe. We were cheering for each other, searching for tools through each other’s pits, and just hanging out at WMR so much that our pit partners wondered what was up and someone finally asked me. 226 went to a regional we weren’t competing at to help 515 out and we even had a student from 1447 come to Championships as an honorary Hammerhead.

We told everyone in Atlanta to go talk to one person from some other team, and I know lots of people exchanged emails and phone numbers. That’s what I love about FIRST, everyone is always looking to be friends with everyone else.

I personally know people on 515 and 1447 of course, and 75, 93, 201, 217, 245, 469, 470, 503, 1764… and I’m sure I’m forgetting someone.

I like this Challenge Beth... 226 will plan something for the Detroit area teams this summer!

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

In general, many of the Indiana teams are pretty close. Our team has helped to start many of the teams in the Indianapolis area, and we stay in contact with each other. Of perticular interest are 393, 829, 1529 (our sister school), and 1741. Other teams are 868, 1018, and 1024.

When we win regionals with other teams, we often get to know them better. This year, we met some great friends in 1730, 1555, 545, and 229. We couldn't have hoped for better alliances.

During a match at the Midwest Regional in 2001, our team, with 71, 111, and 269, scored the highest score in the nation (known to us as the 710 match, video here). There will always be a special connection between us.

We host the IRI each year with teams 45 and 393, which is always a great experience.

A final team I would like to mention is the Pink Team (233). We've gotten to know these guys pretty well when you came to stay with us during the IRI. You guys are awesome! :)

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

48 and Team 379 the Girard Robocats have grown much closer together this season, both on the field and off, as we've shared a regional championship, a regional semifinal run, a spot in some offseason programming classes, a bus to toronto, and other positive experiences. Wonderful students and mentors.

48 and Team 2010 the Champion Lightning Bots will be forever linked by our Delphi co-sponsorship. Many 2010 mentors were former 48 mentors, and our kids get along really, really well.

Team 462 the Rambunctious Rams out of Mississippi were our original Delphi Packard sister team. We stay in close contact throughout the build, and we were overjoyed to hear of their double Chairman's/Regional Winner victory in Louisiana. They've made steady progress with their program, and we up here in Warren couldn't be prouder of their accomplishments!

Team 276, the Chaney Mad Cows , have always had a place in our shop during the build season. Their infamous "rotary walker" design was developed and refined in our shop. We are starting to unite all the local teams under one umbrella designed to work together, share resources, and further expand FIRST in our region.

Team 47 - Chief Delphi - we thank you for giving us the fun pleasure of explaining to at least one person visiting our pits at each competition we attend, "No we're not the team that runs the Chief Delphi forums. That's FORTY-SEVEN!! We are FORTY-EIGHT, Delphi E.L.I.T.E., you know, the ugly stepsister team." Geez, it seems like we've been doing that forever! :)

Team 45 - Thanks for hanging in there with 47 and 48 and 49 so long and keeping the Delphi pride alive. We're still here!!!!! Where's 46????

Team 378 - the Delphi Circuit Stompers - We always have a great time when we're together. Go take that awesome double lift to Ra Cha Cha - you might find us there.....who knows????? 1507 has a great bot too - bring them along for the ride.

Team 1038 the Thunderhawks were linked closely with Team 48 this year, both as allies in Pittsburgh and as opponents at Buckeye. They are a great bunch of people, most helpful, the best of sports, and some of their mentors know how to take some really cool pictures!

Team 291 CIA has always been a welcome partner of 48 at the regionals we attend together, and they were a huge reason why we hung up our first regional championship banner this season.

Teams 120 and 1386 are two wonderful Northeast Ohio teams who have always supported us with their kind words. They've been regulars at our pre-ship event in February.

48 also loves Canada and has supported the Canadian Regional/GTR since its inception in 2002. I won't mention any specific team names, but Mark Breadner, Steve Warren, Vance Scott, Karen Rosenthal, and all the other great Canadian FIRST people - all of them have always extended their Canadian hospitality to us as hosts and ambassadors when we've been up there to visit. It seems we always find the most time to hang out with rookie teams at the GTR, so a shout out to all the great kids and mentors we've met and worked with while up North.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

PoJo <3 MORT
Mort has helped team 1302 from the beginning :D THANKS :D
they always help us out...even when we are against each other in the elimination rounds (twice!)
outside of robotics we used to have pojo n mort movie nites with a few kids from each team i even remember when i was a freshman we left stuff outside ur school for when u guys got back from georgia to suprise you lol

1676
my team leader and i went to give the pioneers a presentation about FIRST when they were first starting out and gave them a couple pointers.....now they have way more resourses n mentors than we do n they always offer a helping hand back

our new friends are 354 the G-House pirates
they were our alliance partners in NYC '07 we had dinner with them in Atlanta and we were in Archemides together so we helped each other out when we had the chance...hopefully we'll get to work with them again in the nyc regional next year for a back to back win :cool:

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Team 100 is like a second team to me. Last year, when my team wasn't able to go to the Championship, team 100 was gracious enough to allow me to share a hotel room with them, since I was not old enough at the time. I had a great time with them and the treated me as if I was on the team. (I even got a famous 100 hat)

This year was no different. We allied with them at SVR, and had a blast making it to the semi's. 2 weeks later, in Davis, my teams alliance was out after the quaterfinals, and so right away I was cheering all out for team 100. And wouldn't you know it, they won! And by winning, they qualify for the championship again.

At championship this year, I was finally allowed to check into my own room, so I went with my teams programmer and our animator to watch the competition. And it just so happened that team 100 was staying at the same hotel with us. We hung out with them a lot, we ate dinner with their team every night, played card games and tron until past midnight and had a lot of fun in general. Our programmer worked with theirs to try and get their camera to work (which never did :( ), and I gave them advise on how to eliminate their drive train bouncing problem (which didn't end up helping too much, but then Andy Baker was gracious enough to lend us some 8" omni wheels, which helped immensly. Thanks you Mr. Baker!)

To top it off, they gave us 114 people in atlanta all 100 hats and shirts, which we wore proudly. They also gave us team social tickets, which saved me 45 bucks :p

Thank you 100 for making my FIRST experience even better!

Mike C.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I don't know about our whole team but overall it is easier for us to connect with ourselves so a team that would be our pals about 30 miles away in.

Yes you guys from C.I.A.

And i personally have a friend from across the state and into another And on here her name is spiffizle

Sorry about any spelling errors

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I think that 1547 as a whole team is the closest with 296. The past 2 years at GTR we've had a social with them and we all stay in close contact with each other. A lot of the girls on the team are now really good friends with the guys on 296. 1547 also has good terms with 188 as they have let us use their practice field before and offered us suggestions for this years robot. We also have really close contacts with Karthik and 1114. Karthik's always there for us when we need help and we even cheer "WE LOVE YOU KARTHIK" at competitions.

As for individual people, myself and some other girls on the team are close with 1503 as Spartonics let 4 other girls on 1547 bus down to Atlanta with them. I have a lot of friends in FIRST but of all the teams, I'm closest with 237. I can't thank TRIBE enough for letting me stay with them in Atlanta this year and for how much all of them took care of me. Love you guys!

I'd say that one of the biggest things people in FIRST need to realize is that you need to cheer at competitions to have more fun. The happier and more spirited your team is, the more people are going to be willing to come up and talk to you. If your team just sits in the stands, they won't have fun and nobody else will want to come up and talk to them. FIRST always says its not just about the robot and its true. There's a whole other side to FIRST and the social aspect is a big part of it. Try getting your team to stand up for matches and cheer. It'll make a big difference.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

We in 2230 are quite lucky, I guess.
We learn in a school that students come to school to learn(and now some come just for FIRST...more or less)from all around the country.
The school is in Herzliya, but I'm from Ra'anana, home of 1577 - Steampunks, who are really close to my house and I pay vists to them allot. They helped us allot in the begining and we start creating connections and we are hoping that we will be able to continue ,aking stronger connections with them and mabye even teaming up for the next season(as in planning to be together in the finals).
Another team is 1947 - Black Knight Robotics from Hedera. They helped us have a taste of what the elimination rounds are and we thank them everytime for the opportunity. One of our girls in our team lives there and she meets them occasionaly so we're hoping to tag with them too.
Of course we keep in touch as much as we can with other teams, but frankly it's usually for aid issues or for other projects we're doing(like our magazine[soon to be posted] which somtimes requires the interviewing of some teams). Hopefully we'll be able to get more friend teams. :)

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I'd have to say that there is a definite bond between all of the Florida teams. It was definitely apparent and amazing at the Las Vegas Regional with the start of the "F-L-O-R-I-D-A!" cheer. And at the Championship, we were all cheering on both 1902, 233, and 179 on Einstein. Who can resist an "Oink, Oink! BOOM!"?

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

The Championship this year was a ton of fun for team 107. For the first time in our history we had the honor to play with our friends from (just down the road from us) Zeeland team 85 BOB in the elimination rounds. They're a class act team. Thanks for the memories!

This is what I love about FIRST. In any other sport Holland Christian (107) and Holland (team 74) are bitter rivals. Not so in robotics. We have a lot of respect for them and enjoyed partnering with them in Chicago this year. Wish we could have gone further Kate.

Team 648 is another good friend of ours. We've shared many good memories the past few years.

We always look forward to seeing and cheering for other West Michigan teams such as 141 and 288. And I can't say enogh good things about the students on team Hammond 71. They put up a great game of laser tag!

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Our team drivers are pretty good friends with the drivers from 1311 (Kell Robotics).
I think we were the first to get two on their ramps at Peachtree and we hung out a bit at Nationals in between matches. Unfortunately thats about as far as it gets though; our team is pretty far away from them.
Hopefully we can keep this up though and maybe find a way to meet them outside the competitions!

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

My team seems to stay where we are, but I'm trying to push for us to be more involved with other teams. I have already helped out at a few demos with 340 and I hang out alot with 1511. I know that 340 and 1511 hang out alot too and it was awesome last week when 340 saved seats behind them for 1511 so that we could cheer and hang out together.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I'm still a wholehearted FREEDOM FORCEer, so im still with 1402

Our friends were

945: our mentors wife was the mentor of this team, we were told to cheer for this team, we were told to watch every one of their matches, and they would watch every one of ours, we would help them set up with off season events and pre ship scrimmages etc.

1604: we mentored barry's team their rookie year, some of our former students are still friends with kids on that team.

1065: one of our mentors left our team after it folded and went over there, so me and the other mentor would watch all their matches and cheer them on.

357: even though their all the way in Drexel Hill PA, their good friends of ours, starting with me being friends with Andrew, we met up at Philly Regional in 05. and alot of our kids became friends with alot of their kids, they even came down to the Florida Regional in 06

343: they picked us with the first overall pick at the Palmetto Regional in 2004, we lost in the quarterfinals, but i won't go into that now, our mentors are friends with each other.

All the other Disney Alliance Teams: we were the ones who held the drive train parties in 04 and 05, and we held the pre-ship event in 06. so we really tried to help out as much as we could, we also mentored a few teams into FIRST including 1557, 1604, 1649, 1694, and a few others.

Team 1402 was a great team, and hopes to return to the field for the 2008 season (even though our mentor won't be there, we will still cheer on 945, bc i will continue that tridition)

Me Personally,

1087: I helped you guys out with your scouting and gave you guys info at the hotel about alot of teams in the Curie Division last week, thanks for your hospitality, and i will encourage 1402 to become friends with you

I will set it out as a goal to introduce my team to many others, i have friends on other teams, hopefully the teams themselves can become friends, just like what 1402 and 357 did, that all started because of me.

25, 75, 108, 173, 180, 229, 237, 375, 771, 1114, 1251, 1345, 1503, 1547, 1680, 1719... the list goes on

I would love to make friends on EVERY team in FIRST, that would really be something.

Everybody knows teams like 1114 and 25 because of their performance on the feild, i know them because of the people they have on the team and how nice those guys are, performance isn't everything, friendship is... I wouldn't trade all the friends i made thanks to FIRST for a regional championship or even a national championship, because in my opinion thats what FIRST should be, your learning with others, might as well have fun doing it together, not individually on the field

Remember there is no I in TEAM

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

The team we probably see the most is team 847, PHRED. We see them at the PNW Regional every year and they go to most of the off-season events we do. They're a pretty cool team! and if either of us had a chance at winning imagery at Portland this year, I think they would have won. Their pit was pretty cool!:D

1983 - Skunkworks has to be one of the coolest rookie teams i've met. They actually beat PHRED and us in Imagery at PNW and we took them into the finals with us. In the few matches we were with them there, they proved to be an awesome alliance partner. 5 weeks later, we find they actually won the Las Vegas regional and were planning to go to championship. I would never have been able to guess they were rookies.

Other amazing teams we met, 997, 955 (you guys had spirit!), 766, 675, 100, 1838 and the team above us in the Hotel (forgot your team number again:o )
You guys gave us an awesome season.:D Hope to see you all next year.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

470 and 815 have been close to 862 for years...

But I have some other personal favorites that I always root for:
573
1502
910
1023
1188
494
45
1

I root for them for many various reasons. Mostly because of things they've done over the years. (And none of those things were on the field.)

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

since this is my rookie year on my team i really wanted to get out there and meet a bunch of new people, ive made friends on a couple of teams that i would do anything for:
217
226
1114
703
i really hope to meet more people on different teams and build more relationships in years to come. i really believe that first isnt just a competition but a bond between people from all over that wont be broken anytime soon.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

So what plans have been made for team gettogethers this summer?

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

116 had two outreach events with other teams in the next 15 days, but those aren't true gettogethers. We had plans for a game of broomball with 612 after build, but it got booked up before we could rent it, and it's been kinda put on the back burner since then. I have an odd feeling that the subject may come again when we're working Space Day together next Saturday.... ;)

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

My team and myself personally have made a lot of friends within the FIRST community, especially though events such as volunteering at competitions. For the past few years, I've been invited to RAGE (173) to host Vex demonstrations and help their FVC team.

Our team shares resources (such as travel and field components) with our sister team Max (1071), which we founded in 2003 with former mentors and students from our own team.

We're also good friends with Checkmate (40), especially in the FVC and EasyC PRO departments. Both of our teams develop 1/3-scale miniFRC robots with Vex each year, and we also helped Intelitek beta-test EasyC PRO over the months leading up to the 2007 Kickoff.

Our team has also hosted joint FIRST demonstrations in the past with the CyberKnights (195), as one of our engineering mentors works with one of theirs at a local fuel cell company.

Outside of the competitions, our team often hangs out with TRIBE/SieH20Bots (237), especially at ski areas in Connecticut during the winter months.


For me, I've personally become friends with quite a large number of teams. It's to the point where at the Championships it seemed like every ten feet someone would say "Hey, It's Art Dutra!" :p

I'm not yet sure about this summer yet, but last summer I went to a bunch of parties where there were a lot of members from 228, 230 and 237 there. :cool:

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

We have always strived to be open and meet other people, but several teams are great friends to us, both on and off the field.

2135 (Presentation Invasion) is a rookie team that we helped mentor this year, and we will always be behind them to see them go as far as they go.

492 (Titan Robotics) are our old buddies from 2005 when together we won the Pacific Northwest Regional, and have kept in touch with them. One of their team members, Kevin Brashum, even came to Santa Clara University to help mentor us.

668 (Apes of Wrath) is growing fast in the Bay Area, and we are proud to work with them, whether it be on their regional alliance or demonstrations at community events.

Of course, I feel that all FIRST teams are friends in a bigger community.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I've heard that our team is pretty close to 33, 111, and 494. I personally have made friends with members of 538, 1746, and 1102. :)

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

I thought it was especially cool how we maintained a really strong relationship with you guys and with 195 at the Championship even though you were in a different field than you were. (I was so surprised to see that you guys made it to the Championship after all!) I know that about 1/4 of our team went over to the stands of your field so that they could sit and talk with you and with 195. As our alliance captain, I joked about yelling over to your field really loudly to invite you and 195 to be our partners and bring back the regional alliance! We also saw 195 at the Hard Rock at our team dinner Wednesday night and spent some time with them there- we actually found out that one of their drivers was in the hospital, and we wish him a speedy recovery. We made some new friends at the Championship this year, like teams 292 and 2068- the three of us got to play three matches as an alliance, and those were fun matches. 292 helped us out a few times at the Championship, and we are indebted to them for that. 2068 was also a really great team that we enjoyed working with, and if they hadn't gotten chosen before we selected our alliance partners... we would have tried to bring back that killer alliance. Our alliance partners from UTC last year have still maintained a great relationship with us, as well- 177 helped us out when we were in need of a master link for our chain at this year's regional, and I know that our CAD teams had some great discussion with one another. 176 played a few matches with (and against) us as well, and we brought back the good memories from the past. At last year's championship, we cheered them on as they won match after match in the Newton field. Two other teams who I would be truly remiss to not mention are teams 1071 and 230, who allianced with us during the scrimmage and maintained that great relationship through regionals and beyond. 1071 almost lent us a driver when ours was sick. We cheered each other on, as we did with 230. There are many other teams who we've become great friends with over the years, but they are far too numerous to mention. Thanks to everyone for helping us and supporting us through the years.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Great Thread! Yet another one of those discussions that hits a nerve and needs to be responded to.

Team 85 has always maintained friendship with our neighbors 107, 141, and 74. We've also worked with and helped 2015 and their mentor's previous team 1654. It always seems like some of our students know someone from each of these teams, we help share transportation, swap parts, etc. We also made some friends on 2054 this year and hope we can continue this. Every year we make some new friends as pit neighbors or alliance partners. Perhaps more than the students, the mentors make more friends as we see the same faces year after year.

For me personally, I always try to keep in touch with my original team (288) and the other West Michigan teams(518, 858, 904, and others). I also like to keep tabs on 1243 and 1504, both near my hometown. Its been great to watch them start and turn into such successful teams. (Maybe they could work together and get a team started in Shiawassee county.) I always try to keep in touch with 857 from Tech as well.

One of the highlights of my season was being so warmly welcomed by 1164 at the Pheonix Regional. I've never seen a team so much like my own, even better in some ways. It's an honor to wear the windbreaker they gave me.

One of our major goals in doing our Mall Expo last year was to help restore the ties that Beth is writing about. We restored and started many connections between our teams that are so vital but so easy to slip away. I hope we to do more of these types of things in the future. Maybe a little better ties between teams could have helped teams like 1500, 391, 658, and others that are no longer active.

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Our team met team 100 at Davis, and they are awesome people. A great friendship was developed between us. You cannot not be good friends after the hell-ish battles you and other teams fought through together at Davis elimination matches.:)

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

This year 226 has made several friends, our closest being 515 and 1447.
This is my rookie year, and I loved every second of it. I made friends from so many different teams. 1015, 862, 469, 217, and 1114 just to name a few. This year has been amaaazing and I'm so sad that the season is done. But yay for off seasons.

As for the challenge, 226 and 469 are having a party this saturday with the teams we've made friends with this year. We're also hopefully having something of a demonstration to the community at our city fair and inviting other teams to come if it successfully goes through.

This year was fabulous and I can't wait for more! I love everyone I've met and I just can't believe how friendly EVERYONE on FIRST is. It's very heart warming to know that there's so much love (:

Re: Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge
 

Team 330 is friends with 294 (we were on the same team in 1997 before we split off), 980, 968, 687, 981, 696, 599, 597, 1702, and 4. (Those are just the ones I know about; I'm willing to bet that there are more.) If you look at the Einstein audience pictures, just on the Curie side of Pink, there is a mixed blob of blue and pink. That's 330, 696, 294, and 599's VEX team forming one cheering section. A few 980 team members were also in the mix. (The pink was from 696's shirts; blue was from 294 and 330 and whoever else had a BeachBot shirt.)

And, don't tell team 1332 that teams don't cheer for each other during eliminations. They were cheering for us all through San Diego elims, even though they weren't picked or picking. Team San Diego (all of the San Diego teams) has a history of cheering for each other until all are out, and then they cheer for whoever they like (often everybody).