[Rachel Lim]

I am really, really sad by this announcement. I don't even know how to start explaining the feeling that in my senior year, we won't be competing at champs but "half champs." For me, a huge part of FRC is seeing powerhouse teams on the field and saying "someday, we want to be them." How can we see how much we can improve and how far we have to go if we never see these top teams? This is my second year with FRC; we'll be in this new system during my last year on the team. I'm so glad I've known FIRST before this change, and I feel so bad for all the rookies that year who will never experience that level of competition, that level of excitement, and that level of inspiration.

I know what the arguments for this are, besides the geographic and cost benefits (if they exist...). Bringing more teams to champs is inspiring for them, and pushes them to do better. FIRST is not just about the robot. It's more than just about winning. I don't get how this helps those points at all.

Seeing the best of the best is inspiring and pushes us all do do better. It pushes us to build a better robot, to want to win, and in that process we learn more than we ever would if we accepted "good enough" as our goal.

Giving out more medals doesn't make everyone a winner, it just takes away from the teams that truly are. I understand that more teams in elims, more teams on Einstein, and more teams that win is a great experience. But I really hope that if my team ever gets this chance, we get it though our hard work and success on the field, not because more teams need to be picked and we just "good enough." Lowering the level of competition makes average acceptable, and makes aiming for more harder to push for.


Please, FIRST, don't do this. Give us back champs. Give us back the experience of seeing all the amazing teams in the world, the feeling of watching those top teams play and saying "someday we want to do that." Give us back the best method of inspiration we have.