[Boltman]

Our team won rookie all-star last season in San Diego out of 65 teams or so. we were a bit surprised by being chosen in fact I as a mentor left before the finals we were not chosen in thinking that was it. Then we won. We were not the best of the rookie robots in San Diego, nor the most polished team but we did score in the top 30 and had spunk with our KISS robot We were solely a simple low goal /high goal blocking robot....but had a personality...and were different.

What I think put us over the top was the Interview they conduct during the competition and the outstanding business plan the kids wrote, the kids started the First FRC team in our school district .The kids took great pride in their robot and went into great detail how we chose a design, how we fundraiser first year, what every persons role was, they all knew the parts of the robot and specs. We had stickers and a nice table set up......

..............and we made it to St Louis...had a blast. there you see the top robots in the World!

There we found what I knew up front we were not top-notch in the world placing #93..way too slow and limited but we learned so much that I believe we have a very good robot which we will need to reach St. Louis again...we are giving it our best shot again this time knowing more what it takes...we are not slow! We are capable! Another year makes a huge difference.

Guess the moral is it depends on how your team impresses the judges and have a solid plan. So for Rookie All stars that is what it took for us.

Good Luck