[simplyTired]

I think what a lot of people here on this site don’t entirely get is the perspective of teams that aren’t well represented here. A lot of teams and people simply say “ask the elite teams how they work and then work really hard to get to their level.” After almost 6 years of FRC experience, I have to say that it’s not quite this simple as many people here make it out to be. Coming from a team that repeatedly finds itself struggling to compete successfully and make eliminations, it becomes more and more difficult to motivate students. I’ve had some students come in with extremely bright outlooks and such great ambitions on how the team can perform, but over the course of 4 years of being constantly worn out from the build season and then broken down during competitions, many want little to nothing to do with FIRST after it is all over. I’ve pushed kids to apply for more and more grants and talk to more companies about sponsorships, but it’s difficult to acquire new sponsors or even retain old ones when you can’t compete on the same level as many teams. Even with mentors, many of the mentors that we meet are discouraged by our performance and eventually move on after just one year of commitment. I think there is something to be said about working to attain a goal and striving for a new level, and I don’t suggest that the “elite” teams are doing anything unfair, I just think that this idea that anyone can get to that level is a bit ignorant of the struggles that some teams face year after year.