Connor
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The trust and transparency being developed with the community up until this point was completely betrayed by this surprise decision, and that's an unacceptable way of managing this program.
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Thank you for the clarification. And I do understand your points. I will add this; this is
not a surprise decision on the part of FIRST. It
is a surprise announcement to us. While it may be semantics to some it really isn't. I think FIRST HQ has more planning involved in this than anyone is really realizing in the heat of the moment. I am not sure we are all privy to the 'big picture' yet. Someone else pointed out that there was a time when the game wasn't played as a 3-man alliance and coaches and mentors quit over that. That was before my time but I personally believe that it has been a great thing. It has given my team the opportunity to play against and with several of the elite powerhouse teams. Forgive my asking but were you involved in FIRST when that particular switch was made? Did you see it as a good change or a negative one? If you were around, you survived it and can survive this too. If you weren't around, I guess the question is can or do you want to survive this change to continue to inspire your students through this vehicle we call FIRST?
Qbot2640
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That is where the focus should be...and if there are still too many teams, then reduce the number each of those districts send.
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FIRST is about inclusion not exclusion. (sarcasm alert) If we are going to reduce the number of teams then 2900 (or so) of us should just quit right now and let the same 100 or so elite battle it out every year for the number one spot (end sarcasm). Goodness knows my team is not one of the top 100 elite and may never be yet slightly more than 50% of my team alumni are majoring in STEM fields (and no, these are not the ones who just
knew they were going to be engineers before they became part of my program). I kind of thought that was the whole point though, to inspire students who might not otherwise investigate/pursue STEM careers to reconsider their choices.
AGPapa
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And if not for meeting all of these great people, how exactly are these teams getting inspired?
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In the hope that I am reading this incorrectly I am going to ask for clarification. What exactly are you trying to say? I agree that it would be inspiring to meet some of these greats but we can be equally inspiring within our regionals and districts. I have personally seen it happen.
Also, as a side note. For all those still decrying the Houston choice, I would say come and join us at Lone Star to see how things have changed since 2003. I wasn't there and understand that it was...less than ideal...but that's been 11 years ago and much has changed since then. Come on down in 2016 and see how much.