Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJohnston
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I know there are many teams out there much like ours. So, I'd like to pose the question:
What do folks think it takes to to annually compete at this level? What should clubs like mine do in order to accomplish this?
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Just to be clear, you are actually talking about a few different levels.
1. There are the non-hall of fame teams that make to to the World Championship on a regular basis (this takes a specific plan and execution to qualify each year). (probably around 200 teams)
2. Once at the World championship, there is a level associated with those that play in elims/playoffs almost every year (I think it is down to only 4 teams that have played in every year of elims). Each year, there are roughly 100 making it into elims/playoffs, but around 50 seem to do this most years.
3. Then there is another teir that regularly advance (think semis-finals) in their division. This is a much smaller group of about 20 or so, and are often the FRC Top 25 type of teams.
4. Lastly, there are the regulars on Einstein. This is a very small crowd. whose member ship changes slowly over time. Although for many years 12 robots made it to Einstein, the 3rd partner of each alliance was usually a 1 year type of advancer. This says that at most the group is around 8 teams. I would probably put it closer to 3-5 depending on how you are doing your accounting.
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Strategy for group 1 is to execute a really good robot, and go to multiple events to maximize your chances of qualifying for World Championship. If you are a district team, these in theory match population distribution, so you need to be one of the top 600/3,000 or top 20%. Realistically this would just put you on the threshold of getting in or out, so to be consistent you would really need to be a top 10% team. (typically top 4 at a district event and/or top 4-6 at a regional depending on size).
Strategy for group 2 is a little trickier. Realistically, you need to be one of the Top 100 teams in the world and/or have good team recognition. Team/Brand recognition will boost you a bit in the picking standings, so making sure the pickers know who you are is a big deal (besides being pretty awesome). For reference top 100 of 3,000 teams is 1/30. Basically you are frequently the best at your district and either the best or 2nd best at most regionals. Historical recognition of being really good helps.
Stratgey for group 3: All of the above and then some. Historical recognition of being really good is nearly essential. This group is effectively the 1% ers. the only time this group stands a chance of not making Elims is IRI.
Lastly, the Einsteiners... I don't really know what it takes. By my math they are the top 0.3% of FRC. Some years this is a small gap in competitiveness over the previous group. Some years it is big. If you truly want to be one of those teams, you need to talk with them about what they do, and how they got there. I will say, success breeds success (in more ways than one). It tends to be easier to recruit the best when you are "the best". Other than that, these teams produce some magic that only they likely understand.