[mrnoble]

A small group of people, 10? 15? out of tens of thousands around the world, failed to make the right choice in the heat of competition. Not FTC, not FIRST. And not forever.

I sympathize, I really do. My FRC team got dealt some blows over the years, including some that radically altered our chances to win events, and which included bad mistakes by referees, and selfish choices by opposing team members (usually adults). But that is life, actually, and I and the team moved on and have built on our experiences to new levels of success.

I hope you can move on, and that your team can move on, and that they will keep competing. There is no competition in robotics, anywhere, that is immune to such things happening; in fact, this stuff (and much worse) happens everywhere, all the time. But we can't just say "X failed me forever" and quit; eventually we will run out of things to quit from. And FIRST, in spite of its failings, is one of the best things going for our students.

My 2c.