[maverickfan138]

I was lucky enough to ref the competition and it was well worth it. First of all, the Waterford crew is absolutely awesome! Everybody is friendly, into it, and on their A game. The competition was so well run that even with a few field delays on Friday, we finished early both days. I'm definitely volunteering again next year.

I had a front row seat to some of the most exciting matches so far this year. The winning alliance was absolutely on fire (sorry for the bad pun) and a blast to watch them Kobe ball after ball after ball. They made balancing look effortless. Congrats 67, 469, and 2851 - it was a well deserved win.

The finalist alliance made the show that much better though. 573, 3098, and 3601 played some great matches and kept the suspense high. Their first triple balance was crazy and their clutch double balance in semifinal match 3 was absolutely wild. The double triple is easily one of my favorite FIRST experiences. Lastly, I was so glad to see 573 in the finals again. During all my years on the team (and even in OCCRA) it has seemed like 573 was always on the wrong side of the bracket. They finally got a well deserved silver, and with the alliance they were up against, getting to the finals was just as good as winning in my opinion.