[Alpha Beta]

We had a great weekend at the KC regional. A big thank you to all of the volunteers at the event. Everything ran on time. We loved the spacious pit area and expanded spectator seating. The technological expertise of those running the event was tested, and they came through every time. After Thursday's hiccup the rest of the event was incrediably smooth. We are proud to call KC our home regional, and cannot wait to square off against the fine competition there next year.

We enjoyed being pit neighbors with 932. You almost got our minibot up the pole. If that uber tube had not gotten in the way in your final qualification match I think we would have seen our first deployment of a foreign minibot.

Thank you to 1982 and 2373 for joining us in our #4 alliance. 1982, you had the complete package. You consistently hung one in auto, put up a top row logo, and your minibot went up the pole everytime. 2373, you were a steal as a third pick. You were built like a tank and were a serious scoring threat.

Congrats to 525, 1730, and 1984/3784. As an alliance you guys had the most consistant and dominant performances of the weekend. It was no fluke that 525 went undefeated, and 1730's only loss was at the hands of 525 on a match that was decided by penalties.

It was great to see 1710 back in KC this year. Your EI award is well deserved. Your volunteers were everywhere, and the students we interacted with in our combined scouting effort were gracious and professional.

To 3172. A Chairman's Award in your second year is incredible. I can't wait to get to know your team better. Good luck at Champs. It is a fantastic experience.

What did we learn this weekend?

• Make sure that your robot performance is consistent. I don't think anybody hit their auto 100% of the time. We were among the most consistent, but certainly not the best at the regional.
• We had the fastest minibot in the regional, but failed to get it up the pole in several matches. In the only qualification match we lost we did not anticipate two minibots being deployed against us, and when we got to the pole late our 3rd place minibot cost us the match. In another match a tube fell out of our gripper bounced off of our minibot and then landed on a middle peg. While the tube scored, it also tripped the switch that shuts off the minibot at the top of the pole. We still won that match, but looked inconsistent to the top seeds looking for a good partner.
• Use a pre-flight check list. No matter how well your drive team thinks they have it memorized make sure they check it off. We had an opportunity to upset the #1 alliance in our first semi-final match. We missed a step in setting up our minibot and the failed deployment cost us the match.
• Elevators do a great job of staying in the zone, but they have trouble reaching over tubes that have been pushed up against the rack. These are also difficult for the driver to see. As you hang tubes it is better to clear the fallen uber tubes than it is to try to squish them out of the way. We had the power to squish them when needed, but it probably wasn't faster in the long run.
• Playing defense has to be a well thought out strategy. If a partner comes driving across the field to pick up a tube and puts a defensive hit on somebody while you are also playing defense it could inadvertantly look like blocking and draw a red card. Not a risk worth taking in eliminations. Make sure everyone on the alliance understands that only one robot at a time can play defense.
• Minibots need to be secured. If an opponent thinks they can hit you hard enough to dislodge your minibot they will come after you. We had a redcard in our first elimination match when we loaned a minibot to an alliance partner. Not only was it not secured well enough in our haste to get it installed, but when it got flung out it landed on the opponents tower. We were not alert enough to use an arm to sweep it onto the floor. Since it then interfered with the minibot race for our opponents it was a red card for the alliance.
• It is harder to share a minibot than you might think. We shared ours with two different teams and it did not make it up the pole in either instance. One was an issue of it not being secured well enough and falling out, the other was a freak uber tube in the way that the driver couldn't see. We will use the experience gained in KC to make sharing more successful in Denver.

We came to the KC regional to win. While we didn't win our way to the Championship Event this time, we did win some valuable experience for the Denver regional. We also saw our rookie members inspired to learn more and work harder. Our sponsors who attended the event walked away proud of the investment they are making in the community, and we had several elementary and middle school students in attendance who can't wait to grow up and join the team. In FIRST everyone can win, everyone can go PRO. And while we have not punched our ticket to the Championship Event yet, we came away winners and we hope everyone else at the event feels like winners too.