[Nemo]

I think this could be a better thread if people acknowledged certain self-evident truths. I'll start by agreeing to a few:

1) Mentors (and other people involved in FRC) do get burned out and it is a problem for the long term sustainability of FRC.

2) If the build season went into March and April, it would have affect other things people want to do during those months (more than it does currently).

3) In an open build season, some teams would work very hard the entire time.

4) Most teams would probably put in a higher number of total hours if the build season was longer.

5) As a result of a longer build season, some individuals would end up putting in enough additional time to cause issues in their lives.

Here are the ones I'd like other people to acknowledge:

6) Teams get to choose how they want to run themselves, including setting their own schedules.

7) It's possible to meet fewer times per week over a larger number of weeks and get the same amount of work done.

8) It's a problem that so many teams' robots can't play the game, or can barely play the game. More time to work on the robot would help many (though not all) teams overcome this problem.

9) An open build season would reduce some team expenses for some teams, including expedited shipping and practice robots.

10) Many teams already work very hard after the bag deadline.