[MagiChau]

Don't have the mentality that power-houses are this unreachable goal because of all these wonderful things they have. This year's Michigan State Championship is a good example. 217, 469, and 201 got knocked out by the 8th alliance in the quarter-finals. You should instead look at them (powerhouses) and see what they do that you could use in your team to be more successful. Everyone in FIRST started out small. Put an effort into expanding your team's outreach and resources.

Problems are going to happen, prepare for it. We were plagued by problems in our two district events making us sit still a few times. 27's arm malfunctioned at west michigan costing them the ability to hang for some of their qualification matches. 67 sat dead a lot of matches at Kettering from communication issues. Every team experiences these problems in what seems the worst times, don't pity yourself too much and think of how to fix them and prevent them next time.

FIRST Robotics Competitions can be tough to succeed at completing the challenge more effectively than veterans but look at 2010, 2 rookie teams made it to Einstein.