[KrazyCarl92]

Given that the mission of FIRST is to inspire students to become leaders in science and technology, the measure of success for a team has to be measured by how well they inspire their students and other teams students. Therefore, I would have to say that mentors are the most important aspect of success because they are the ones actively inspiring the students, giving them something to be excited about and showing them how to make something as complex as an FRC robot a fun thing to build and compete with. Of course winning helps inspire students, so that is a part of a team's success, but it isn't the whole picture. Mentors are also the integral part in establishing the professional setting for students to interact with professional engineers to overcome a difficult challenge together.