[sanddrag]

This is a very interesting discussion, and something I've debated a time or two. I believe that to some degree, strongly competing with the desire to win and education can be mutually exclusive to some degree. The types and methods of learning take place differently whether the goal is to win the competition or the goal is simply to learn about robotics, and everything that comprises it. Why are these mutually exclusive in some ways? Time. On a rushed schedule, one is often sacrificed to gain the other. Is it to say that a that focuses solely on winning doesn't learn? No, of course they learn. But the types of things they learn are different, and certain types of students who cannot "keep up" may be left out of the process.

2015 and 2011 were probably some of the best years for learning. 2013 was probably the worst. I felt so burdened by the difficult challenge and new constraints in 2013 that we were under tremendous pressure just to get something decent together, and there was little time to slow anything down to actually teach anyone anything. During build season, the rigorous build schedule was just go go go everyday, and if you couldn't keep up, you got left out. It's not a nice way to run a team.

On 696, we made it very clear on the first meeting day for our 2015-16 team that our goal was to try to win in the competition, but not at any cost. We will not enter the competition simply to show up, and exhibit a mediocre entry. Anyone can do that. We want to put a lot into it, and get a lot out of it, while attempting to be a strong competitor, with a chance of winning. We realized that some teams do try to win at practically any cost, and we decided that model does not fit our team well. Contrary to popular belief, there is life outside of FIRST Robotics. This is not the only thing our students and mentors do in their lives. We still take great value in the learning that takes place, and have implemented an extensive Fall training schedule to prepare our team members with skills they need to be successful during the build season.

It's definitely a balance to strike.