[EricH]

Originally Posted by jman4747

How to utilize the championship event and experience to fulfill the goals of USFIRST is up to USFIRST. They know better than anyone what they are able to do. If we want to help fulfill those goals with the methodology they set out and how is up to us.

Here's a question that neither you, nor HQ, seems to have thought about.

How does it fit FIRST's goals--AT ALL--if multiple mentors decide that because of this change, they will no longer help fulfill FIRST's goals (at least within FIRST)? Particularly if teams fold as a result? Can you answer me that?

Trust me, I've seen the postings. There are mentors who had that reaction almost immediately. Long-time mentors. If your team had a 10-year+ mentor "threaten" to leave over this, you'd realize just how bad this is. (Mine hasn't, that I know about--but then again, most of the mentors haven't been around FIRST for more than about 5-7 years.)

I don't give a darn that FIRST knows better than anyone what they are able to do. What they have chosen to do is up to them--but if they alienate large numbers of people, they're shooting themselves in the foot, and that's EXACTLY what they just about did with the announcement. And when they say "this is how it's going to be, now you can ask us questions", a lot of people won't be thinking about the "how". They're thinking about the "if" and the "why couldn't we ask questions before".

These mentors know a far sight better than FIRST HQ what their individual teams' goals, missions, dreams, and abilities are, and what the community reaction will be in event of X happening. When HQ appears to take a step that directly contradicts an awful lot of those local teams' ideals, there are only two possibilities: Either the team mentors are out of touch with HQ's view of FIRST's goals, or HQ is out of touch with the teams. Neither ends well unless someone from either side or both reaches out.