[EricH]

Originally Posted by Patrick Chiang

To enforce more parity, all they would have to do is announce "FIRST is primary about students. Mentors, remember you're only here to help, not do it for them". If they emphasize that philosophy (which would be great), mentor-ran teams would not disappear overnight, but their legitimacy would decline, and teams will change; the competition would become a much less hostile atmosphere between alleged elite teams and normal teams.

Which they very clearly do NOT announce, and probably never will!

I'm honestly very surprised that the following haven't been posted yet:

Originally Posted by http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/vision

"To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders."
Dean Kamen, Founder

Mission
Our mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

(emphasis mine)

How "mentor-based" your team is is up to you. But bear in mind, these are FIRST's vision and mission statements. I don't think they'll ever tell any mentor-built teams to not be mentor-built.

Also, that statement, even if it was issued, won't help. Let's look at 1114. For multiple years now, I've heard of teams saying they are being mentor-built. They aren't. (Ditto for 254 and 968 and some of the other teams out there.) That statement, even if FIRST issued it, would simply lead to more complaints like that, with accusations of cheating thrown in. It's human nature.

A statement from on high won't change minds and hearts. It's up to those on the ground to do it, one person/team at a time.