[pagoglia]

I am surprised at how many of the responses are opposed to change. FIRST is an evolving changing beast and there are bound to be changes. Question is was this where change was needed at this time. As a four year lead mentor I can say my team thouroughly enjoyed our Rookie All-Star trip to Championships. We'd love to go again some day but winning there is not as high on our list of things to do as it appears to be with many on this thread. More important is spreading STEM through robotics and having a good time.
A shorter, more relaxed, less competitive version of what exists now might enable some mentors to stay around longer annd some teams to feel more satisfaction. For example; a 'league' where each team can attend if they compete with the robot tbey built as of bag day. No multiple events and therefore no multiple 30 pounds of goodies that permit some to arrive at Championship with a robot that is no longer what came out of the build season. The emphysis is put on getting it right the first time.
The idea being to keep some sanity in the number of months people have to put in. There are a lot of people working as mentors whose involvement grows exponentially with each passing year; turning the mentor positions into what look like full time jobs. This translates into well mentored teams but questionable home life. Money needs to be raised for each added event along with the time commitment. For team members attending multiple events it means more missed school days. I'll stop there but I think that FIRST in general and all teams individually need to question the amount of time and energy they devote to their seasons; attempting to keep some balance of reason so we don't get burnout while trying to effect positive change in our youth.