Quote:
Originally Posted by falconmaster
The Arizona Interscholastic Association recognizes robotics as a sport in Arizona! We were lucky enough to have been chosen to be present when they made the announcement. We also got to deliver the game ball and the silver dollar for the coin toss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9BV...ature=youtu.be
How do you like that Dean and Woodie?AZ became the second state after Minnesota to do this! Its nice that AZ is not last for a change in something! There is nothing wrong with your sound there was no sound with the video. There was idle chit chat so I decided not to put it.
Extremely honored to have been chosen to be there for this!
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One really fascinating part of the endorsement was the AIA's comment about robotics being the only sport that will be allowed to solicit/accept donations from the private sector. I am just a little skeptical that the average school district's liability insurance for a football season (much less salaries.stipends for a head coach and multiple assistant coachs) is less than the $6K it takes to start an FRC team. If we could get football assistant coach stipends for robotics mentors, we'd have a math teacher and a graphics arts teacher involved (and I'd be in the stands cheering).
The Olympics gave up the farce of "amateur athletes" some years ago, Let's leave the highest tier of the NCAA as the last bastion of that non-profit (for the grunts involved) foolishness. FIRST has always been about growing into the real, business, profit seeking world. As a high school "sport" it can be the best start we give the students, with competition that will be, as opposed to artificial demonstrations based physical endowment, where those who cooperate, think and do, even the potentially totally physically incapacitated (op cit Steven Hawking), exceed their own expectations, and blow the rest of us away.
The Arizona high school sports authority made an extraordinary step, along with Minnesota and Connecticut. We must build on this.
Unfortunately for the other worthy robotics programs, FRC is probably the best way to go right now at the high school level. It takes a basketball court sized endeavor to capture people's attention. 6x120lbs of robot running around on that size field is probably the minimum it takes to get the world involved.
Let's work for a proper set of district competitions, where the incremental cost of additional events is not 80% of the first, but 10%, so that everyone gets a couple of shots at glory.
Tim