Re: What makes an all-star rookie team?
 

The way the 3 rookie awards boils down in Michigan is

Highest rookie seed (obvious)

Rookie all star - The rookie that did the best in the eliminations. (except the last option rookie bots pick by #1) Waterford was a great example was a rookie bot that was in the #5 slot won it all.

Rookie inspiration- The rookie team that fits right in with the vets in terms of robot quality knowledge of first and its associated manners.

In Michigan districts the Rookie inspiration award is worth more in districts because the all star award doesn't auto qualify for anything and isn't worth any state ranking points. In contrast to the Rookie inspiration which is worth 2 points.

Re: What makes an all-star rookie team?
 

I won't begin to imply that I understand the way things work for these awards, but I will give you some anecdotes of what we did to win 2006 Championship RAS.

1.) We had a business plan. We ran the team like a small business from day 1. We had a plan for 5-year sustainment, a branding image, colors, etc.
2.) We recruited industry partners, engineering & non-engineering mentors, and students.
3.) Our robot could move and spit out balls every now and then (2006 was poof balls), but it was a terrible contender to win the game. I don't think we ever actually scored except for being up on the ramp at the end.
4.) We attempted autonomous. I think the bot even flipped 1 match.
5.) I think the only outreach we even had time to do at that point was showing the robot off at a pep rally, and demonstrating the robot to sponsors pre-ship.

There's also a very interesting anecdote about how our leader wanted absolutely everything to be purple, including the notebooks that we left behind with the judges. She ran around Atlanta for 3 hours looking for the right hue of purple notebook, too. She's an ex-CIO and understands that the team's image has a large effect on its impact. To this day, we still have a large impact in our community because of such conviction to the program, including it's image.

Re: What makes an all-star rookie team?
 

If you really meant that, we would not be having this conversation.

Judging at regionals is fair.

Re: What makes an all-star rookie team?
 

Performance should have a lot to do with it, but so does attitude, and spirit. At the Los Angeles regional this weekend my rookie team placed 34th out of 63. Not bad considering we had 12 students, all of whom knew little, or nothing, about robotics (especially FIRST robotics!) when the school year started.
Another rookie team placed in the top 10. They had a cohesive image, strong teamwork, and undoubtedly REALLY good mentors. They won the Rookie Inspiration award, and I feel they deserved it.
I think an all-star rookie team needs a group of motivated, focused, and committed students under the supervision of a dedicated mentor.