[Fielding S.]

So FIRST's mission is to inspire as many young people to pursue STEM-related activities and careers as possible, right?

According to Dan Bossi in his announcement video, FIRST is different from other sports in that FIRST is more a celebration of every team's achievements and efforts. I remember somebody posting (I'm not going to even attempt to find the post) that because of more winners being crowned, CMP is becoming more like a science fair and less like a, well, competition/championship.

To me, this sounds like FIRST is trying to make FRC less of an actual sport. FIRST's desire to inspire as many people as possible is very understandable, but they're going about this the absolute wrong way.

It doesn't take a genius to know that major sporting events are much more popular than science fairs and conventions. How many kids dream of becoming a professional athlete someday? In contrast, how many kids dream of becoming a scientist that wins best-in-show someday?

In order to accomplish FIRST's main goal, robotics programs must become more like sports. Sports are universally popular, inspiring, and captivating. Yes, this means having one all-encompassing championship event and giving the title of "World Champion" to the best in the world. Why is this contrary to the mission of FIRST? It seems to have worked out for many sports programs.