Re: 2009 Lone Star Regional
 

Lone Star Regional at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

This post is going to be a little different in the fact that it will be celebrating different aspects of the regional success besides the winning alliances that brought home the gold and the silver and the alliances that fought hard for those honors.

Instead, this post is going to be more about the behind-the-scenes moments that were present throughout. Things like how I was able to discern who the teams were that never had to be told not to run through the venue and who always had their safety glasses on in the pits. Those were the teams who worked at keeping it safe and it made a difference. As a volunteer, I met many guests of teams as well as members of the teams, themselves. It was fun to watch the older siblings lend a hand with the younger siblings, insuring that they would enjoy the event through eyes wide with wonder.

It was an amazing moment when NASA’s Lunar Electric Rover rolled in and spent the entire time with us on display and as a demonstration. NASA folks and 118 mentors and students spent time talking about the rover to anyone who wanted information, had questions, or just wanted to stand there and absorb its presence and what that means.

When 34 walked in from Alabama, it was a special moment, as well, knowing that this team knows what it means to be an FRC team through and through. They were loud, competitive, efficient in the pits, and a pleasure to be around. If they went home disappointed in any way, it wasn’t because of their lack of trying – and I’m sure they will know that.

There were a lot of fun team interactions in the pits, the stands, and on the field. Oftentimes, there were team shirts from 3 teams or more, visible in one pit and visitors weren’t sure who was who. That was fun to see. It was nice to be able to walk a visiting grandparent up to a team and ask them to talk with her about the team or teams in the area that she could help connect her grandson up with. It was also nice to know that teams would spend time with visiting students from middle schools and answer questions about their robot, their team, their hair color.

I also appreciated the fact that students and mentors would listen if I had a suggestion regarding safety in the pits. They also offered help if we were short at the safety glasses station. There were students who kept a watch on my station and would come work extra shifts if they noticed the table was only being manned by me. There were 2 safety glasses stations at Lone Star – one at each entrance of the pits. The 2nd station really needed someone to step up to the plate and run it. Well, someone did. FRC 922 – Team Ultimate. They ran that station non-stop from Thursday through Saturday, all the while competing as a team. That is no small thing for a team to do.

There are many favorite memories and special moments that stand out for me and most of them have to do with the professionalism that I saw in the veteran teams and the fun and exuberance that emanated from the rookies. Throughout, I saw dedicated mentors and volunteers supporting the efforts of the teams and the event and it was very impressive to be a part of. One especially fun moment was walking around the corner to the practice field at the end of Friday and seeing nothing but Cryptonite on the field throwing orbit balls in the trailers. I think the whole team was on the field. Cryptonite green hair and flying orbit balls = wow! Wish I’d had my camera at that moment.

On a personal note, I have never been more proud of my favorite team in FIRST than I was of LASA, FRC 418, throughout the competition, before and after they won their wonderful awards. I will never forget the 2009 Lone Star Regional in Houston, Texas.