[jason_zielke]

I've been thinking about this topic a lot recently. I have heard a lot of similar themes in discussing it with teams and mentors...

Leave the stop build date because...

"We need the rest"

"It ensures all teams have similar amounts of time to complete the competition robot"

Remove the stop build because...

"Teams build practice bots to get around it"

"With 30 lbs of additional parts, almost anything can be brought to the competition"

However, I have come to the realization that there is a much more compelling reason to eliminate stop build day...and it is at the core of FIRST's mission...Inspiration.

Imagine the excitement that teams could build in their schools and local communities prior to a competition if they were actually allowed to demonstrate that robot BEFORE and DURING the competition season. Our teams need this ability to build a fan base and a following. We need students, parents and community partners outside of our teams to get excited about our robots before they get to competition so we have a way to get them to attend.

Teams could show off their robots at prep rallies just before they head off to district or regional competitions just like all the athletic teams in the district.

If we really want to be the "Varsity Sport for the Mind", we need to market ourselves like a varsity sport. I can think of no better time (and I have tried) to show off our robots than right before we head off to competition.

With this simple change, our ability to inspire others would grow immensely.

In my opinion, this benefit outweighs any of the possible downsides, because this is the true mission of FIRST.