Quote:
Originally Posted by RonnieS
I have had multiple teams come to me after winning a district and express how much this means to them and the inspiration their students received after the previous day of competition and them loosing hope.Who FIRST is trying to bring in are people who are used to the mindset of working towards a goal of winning, rather it be directly or indirectly.
What do resources have to do with advancing? It is our job as the FIRST community to inspire these kids and there are many of us who feel the best way is by winning. They then justify the trails and tribulations that they went through as a team and will be way more excited to come back the next year to compete and strive to do better. Rather a teams goal is to win the district or make finals, it is still winning. They reached that goal; they have to continue to expand that goal which will/should involve winning a regional or district.
This year we encountered a rookie team that did not have the mentors to help them succeed. We invited them to build with us for the season as they learned TONS. Mind you, they barely had screwdrivers to assemble the KoP chassis and they had zero way to meet as their "mentor" thought an hour meeting a week would suffice. With inspiration from our team, they strive to win. That was their mind set and ambitions as a rookie. They went on to qualify for the Michigan state championship and had a very successful season winning multiple awards. I am super proud of what they did. Bottom line, winning was their goal and that inspired them more throughout the season than many teams I have seen. There knowledge has grown tremendously and I am confident that they will be a force to recon with.
-Ronnie
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Resources do make a difference in robot performance, especially in MI. We all strive to win. That said, situations like what you describe in really helping struggling teams can inspire students more in the long run. We have witnessed this year after year with teams we worked with. Changing the culture is the key.