[dcarr]

At the same time, I know of a team that won Rookie All-Star, attended Championship, and was then disbanded the next year.

Many other factors go into team sustainability aside from winning awards and attending Championship. Correlation does not imply causation, but it could be useful to take a look at it.

Many people not familiar with FIRST are surprised when I tell them there are about ~2500 active teams despite team numbers approaching the 5,000s (of course, some team numbers are withheld). We all know that supporting a team is incredibly hard work so count yourself blessed to be part of teams that have "made it," so to speak.