[gsesny]

As a mentor of Team 5804 I would like to also like to thank everyone involved in the competition and district this year. Although I help to mentor a rookie team I have been involved with FRC for several years and I will say this is the smoothest that an event at the Xfinity Center has ever run. I know there are a lot of people involved in this but one person that is a constant is Anne Shade. Great job! Every year it gets better.

I would also like to thank Steve Shade. Every time Steve is the head ref it seems like things run on time and smoothly with little controversy. Steve is a true professional and treats all teams with dignity and respect you can't ask for anymore than that from the head ref.

Rick Smith and his crew of inspectors do are amazing. Being an inspectors seems like it would be thanks less and you would receive a lot of flack. Rick puts good people out there and is always there to talk to about any questions you may have.

5804 had a dream rookies season with a simple and effective robot. Our strength was consistency and the ability to pick up balls and put them in the low goal as quickly as anyone. We also got lucky with such a tough field that we never had any mechanical problems. It was really fun to work with our kids who were starved for a stem program like this.

As great as the season was we could not have been as effective without the help of our alliances throughout the tournament.

Hampton Roads--So grateful to A.R.T--5546 and the NASA Knight--122. Although it took us until the semi finals to realize how good we could be--we rolled after that.

Doswell---A.R.T--you believed in us again and along with ORCA--3136 we pushed the eventually champion to the brink in the semis. A.R.T we are very thankful of the bond we formed with you. You have been great to work with and get to know!

Championship--We are so thankful to 1418 Vae Victus and 836 the Robobees. You believed in us and chose us with the last pick. We are eternally grateful. We are so happy to honor that pick with helping bring home the Big Blue Banner. Who would have thought that three low goal shooters would out pace the high goals. It was fun and stressful.

Our kids learned so much from everyone (too many to mention). There are some really great programs that have helped. (401--helping us getting our second camera going to help our vision with a few tricks). We are proud to represent Chesapeake at World's along with 24 other fine teams.

In our final thank you I would like to thank all the volunteers and staff and everyone that made this first year as a district possible. The season has been long. I personally have experienced more time away from my family than ever before which is tough....but in the end it is great for our area and I love that the best of the best from DC, MD and VA are all together in one place in early April.

See some of you at World's, see some of you next year and look forward to 5804 collaborating with many teams in an around Richmond and the district.