[mrmummert]

Our team here in Franklin, Va. 1610 has the same problem. Our Football team has won state twice. We've been winners of the Virginia regional three times.
So i guess you could say we've done better than the football team.

The football team gets a band and cheerleaders. They have their own weight training building. One year one of the local companies here donated jackets for the entire team. They also got signs at all entrances to the city noting that Franklin's team were state champs twice just to name a few things.

We've gotten a few write ups in the local paper and some recognition at school board and city council meeting...and we meet and work in a old gym that before we started using it was used for storage and isn't in the best of shape and is about a mile from the High school.....so we get nothing like Football gets.

We have a very small High school...about or just under 400 students total.
We have to compete with all the school sports when it comes to recruiting students for the team. We've had a couple students who have or are doing three other school related things at the same time they are in robotics.

There is still the mind set in our community that Sports gets you more attention and is "sexy" for lack or a better word. I sometimes tell students and some parents that in the past 60 years Franklin has produced only a couple people who went on and played pro sports and did well. I tell them that a student who does robotics and goes on to college to go into a stem field has a better chance at doing well for life than if they try sports. I'm not discouraging anyone from doing sports and hoping they do well....I just state facts. Until our community produces someone like a Bill Gates, or like Dean Kamen the mind set here isn't going to change much. But don't let things like this discourage you. Team 103 is a good example of what a small community and robotics group can do.