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Re: The Stereotyping of Successful Teams
Bashing of successful teams is so contrary to the culture of FIRST. Enough of the "haves and have nots" - especially in FIRST. Their will always be disparity in resources, but more resources don't define or guarantee a team's achievements.
Successful teams work hard. Miss Daisy sets a high bar for teams to shoot for, not shoot down. HOF teams have achieved their status by commitment of the team. Having deep pocket sponsors, incredible machine shops, armies of engineering mentors are not required in FIRST. The essential elements for success are dedicated mentors and students - you cannot buy those.
I met 341 in San Diego (2009) and was so impressed by their commitment to the program. They had a very good robot (won the regional, as I recall), but even a better team. Team 341 handed out their "Team in a Box" CD which helps any team (rookie or veteran) become stronger. I recall their Chairman's Award being announced in Atlanta (2010) and was so surprised they hadn't already won it.
Teams focused on getting more sponsors, machines, mentors and trophies might be overlooking the mission of engaging more students.
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"There's never enough time to do it right, but always time to do it over."
2003 AZ: Semifinals, Motorola Quality; SoCal: Q-finals, Xerox Creativity; IRI: Q-finals
2004 AZ: Semifinals, GM Industrial Design; SoCal: Winners, Leadership in Controls; Championship: Galileo #2 seed, Q-finals; IRI: Champions
2005 AZ: #1 Seed, Xerox Creativity; SoCal: Finalist, RadioShack Controls; SVR: Winners, Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technologies"; Championship: Archimedes Semifinals; IRI: Finalist
2007 LA: Finalist; San Diego: Q-finals; CalGames: Finalist || 2008 San Diego: Q-finals; LA: Winners; CalGames: Finalist || 2009 LA: Semifinals; Las Vegas: Q-finals; IRI: #1 Seed, Finalist
2010 AZ: Motorola Quality; LA: Finalist || 2011 SD: Q-finals; LA: Q-finals || 2013 LA: Xerox Creativity, WFFA, Dean's List Finalist || 2014 IE: Q-finals, LA: Finalist, Dean's List Finalist
2016 Ventura: Q-finals, WFFA, Engineering Inspiration
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