Quote:
Originally Posted by AllenGregoryIV
Not only that but UIL also normally requires schools to compete independently in all of their events. A large number of Texas FRC teams are from multiple schools or entire districts (1477, 118, 2587, etc).
3847 might be in the strangest situation. Strake Jesuit one of our schools is a UIL school, St. Agnes Academy our other school is not in UIL.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jee7s
1. If getting UIL support means that schools receive significant benefit over non-school or non-UIL teams, this presents a significant issue for parity between teams. UIL may also require teams that are comprised of multiple schools or of schools combined with local organizations to split into multiple teams. (+1 AllenGregoryIV)
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I am not sure how many schools 1477 and 118 draw from but 2587 draws from 6 different schools from at least two different school districts. I think one or two students are the only ones from their school participating in FRC. Another school only has 2 or 3 students on our team. Some of the home-schoolers have been core members of the team. Breaking up these teams would not "just make a bunch of smaller teams" but probably end the FIRST experience for many of team members. It is likely that many of the schools will not have enough committed team members, parents, teacher/sponsors and mentors to reach critical mass and survive. The surviving teams would likely be shadows of their former selves. Would the 118 reveal video still be as inspiring? I hope so but I wouldn't bet on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jee7s
3. UIL support may have significant negatives in the existing FRC community. Fundamentally, that risks throwing a bunch of money at schools to start teams that are a) not equipped to do FRC, b) not properly cultured for Cooperition, and c) not properly cultured for Gracious Professionalism. Kinda sounds like 2009 & 2010...throw cash at schools to start teams. Those teams are generally lost and miserable. Those teams don't come back. Stat of the moment: of the 50 FRC Rookies in Texas from the 2009 season, only 12 remain.
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You mention "culture" twice in this paragraph. If UIL takes over FIRST in Texas, it would have to be with the understanding that the current "culture of inclusion" is maintained if not expanded.