Yeah, funding is definitely a difficult part of FIRST.
But then again, you see some teams in pit stations near yours that have an entire posterboard filled with sponsor logos, a large canvas inflatable weather-sized balloon with a team number on it, a working booth complete with fan and set of roller-stools, and other such luxuries.
Paul's right about our team. We don't have much. A few parents to watch us when our mentor isn't there, his dad helped us with the crate, and no one has any experience except for him. We got money for registration c/o 832-- many thanks to them and congrats on the Judges' Award!. We used the KOP, largely brought in our own tools, and a few families paid for most of the rest of the stuff we used. $330 accounts for the stuff we put on our bot-- not the stuff we bought and didn't use, team equipment, tools, etc.
Our bot's been suffering some problems here and there, and we've been working hard. We've been helping other teams with getting their hardware to work, lending tools, and helping out where we can.
Personally, I think you take what you can get, and you think about things ranked by importance. I'm just happy I got to experience the build period and then a competition, though that isn't to say I wouldn't like $5000 to appear in my hand for us to register for nats. Just being there has taught me a lot about people, made me some new friends and some better ones, and allowed me to tinker with something I probably wouldn't otherwise ever get to play with. (How many kids can honestly say they've built a working robot out of something other than LEGOs or K'nex?)
Considering that I've only got two more years in this, I may not ever see nats-- though hopefullly we'll get enough funding by senior year to go.
Sure, it's upsetting to see that you can't get money out of your school, but there's a lot of us in the same boat. We simply can't all be teams with 15+ corporate sponsors. (And from what I've seen, teams with 15+ large corporate sponsors wouldn't be much fun to be on.) However-- and I don't mean to sound nasty-- you didn't qualify for nats at your regional, but you got to compete, and you should be happy with that. If you tried your best at region, you should just enjoy that experience.
We're currently ranked quite low due to some drive problems so far, and with just a few more matches to go in the morning, I'm kind of upset that we won't get to show off our bot in full working order. BUT, I've still thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and the disappointment in no way takes precedence over the experience and the memories I've made.
^^All that was not supposed to sound malicious in any way. Just my take on things. I hope you can manage to get enough funds to go to your other regional, and maybe nats, should you qualify.
