[John Retkowski]

FRC Team 316 had a similar experience at the week two Pioneer Valley Event in New England. We also decided to try inter-district play to work out the kinks in our robot and strategy. We also wanted to attend another overnight competition if we could. The students always have a blast, and we really bond as a team.

One thing we hadn't anticipated was the warmth of New England despite all the snow outside. Every minute I turned around in the pit, there was another student or mentor from numerous teams introducing themselves and asking us where we were from and how our trip went. We met so many new friends, and got to experience a fresh atmosphere.

We were very pleased with our performance at Pioneer Valley. Despite numerous frustrating failings, both with out robot and driverstation, we ended the qualification rounds seeded 3rd. We and our alliance partners 61, and 663 won the first finals match, but lost the second two matches. Unfortunately, our pickup motor broke and we could only make stacks of two totes without any cans. Even if the motor had worked however, I'm not sure we would have beat 3146, 3718, and 2168. I caught glimpses of their other elimination matches, and they worked beautifully together. We were also able to win the Imagery Award. We didn't even think we were eligible to win awards at the event, so it came as a pleasant surprise. We were also thrilled to win a team award from team 166, who was right across the aisle from our pit.

I also can't forget to mention that we had the awesome chance to meet a great man at Pioneer Valley: Dr. Woodie Flowers!

Overall, our inter-district play experience was fantastic, and I think FIRST really nailed it on this one. I'm definitely hoping our team does this again next year.