[KrazyCarl92]

Wow. What a debut event for BONDS 5811! The teams, volunteers, and venue served as a fantastic introduction for the team to FRC. We cannot thank everyone enough for the welcoming atmosphere, even through the heat of competition. We worked hard this season, hoping to figure into a playoff alliance at Regionals and were thrilled to find ourselves in a position to lead our own alliance come Saturday afternoon. To top Saturday off with a Rookie Allstar Award and a ticket to St. Louis was simply amazing.

Congrats to teams 1126, 5406, and 1559 on the Regional Win. 1126 had the most consistent performance all weekend, and from playing a match with them it was clear this resulted from well crafted strategy and a robust machine to execute the plan. 5406 had a phenomenal robot and were a class act. As allies in our very first qualification match, when their robot didn't move their drive coach was right there to help calm our drivers nerves and execute the breach on our way to a victory. That moment really set the tone for our weekend out on the field and gave us confidence moving forward. 5406 also gave us a chain master link when one of our partners needed it during the playoffs, an exemplary act of gracious professionalism! It's clear this a second year team we can look up to as a rookie ourselves. And 1559, you were the extra cog the alliance needed for that edge to get the victory.

To teams 1023, 3015, and 4050, those were some incredible playoff matches. Wishing we could've pushed it to a third match, even if only for a chance to play another match with our two alliances! I found 1023's robot to just be a very elegant solution to this year's game. And congratulations to 3015 on their Regional Chairman's Award! This comes as no surprise after they discussed ways to mitigate our connection issues even from opposite sides of the glass. Everything from your team's branding to its robot and gracious professionalism serves as a great role model.

Our team really enjoyed getting to know others at the event, especially learning from Team 2614 about their outreach efforts and ways to take our own to the next level. Countless others were offering advice, encouragement, and help throughout the event and it is all very much appreciated!

We were thrilled to have Team 340 join our alliance. Your high goal auto spy shot, ability to complement our obstacle crossing abilities, and challenge the tower allowed for a tremendous degree of strategic flexibility. This was exactly what we were looking for in a partner. Hoping you can get the bot firing on all cylinders for FLR; a working scaler could really set you up for playoff run there as well.

And last but not least, a HUGE thank you to Team 3138. It is your mentorship that got our team going in the right direction from the start. From our weekly meetings, to coming downtown to help us with programming issues, giving us much needed parts, and scouting together our team has learned so much about what it means to be a FIRST team from you. We were appalled to see you still on the board for our selection at #7. It was a slow start on Friday, but as of Saturday morning it was clear you were the best low goal scorer at the event. Depositing 12 boulders in the tower one match, then posting the event (unpenalized) high score together at 146 points was a blast. We could not have asked for better partners. Pulling that upset was no mistake, and I really think our alliance had what it took to go all the way. Just had some untimely connection issues and bounces go the other way. Things are looking up for Cincinnati and hopefully we can find each other on the same side of the field again!