[ctt956]

Originally Posted by who716

This has been discussed and I don't think there is yes or no answer to it depends on a lot of different things. For me personally I was brought up in a very competitive family as my brothers and I used to race professionally and that cost a lot of money so if we didn't win, it was a waste of a lot of money and resource. In the race no one recognized or sponsored the driver who came in second. that stuck with me in first aswell. I wasn't happy with any placement unless we won. I personally laughed at the pins given out and the finalist awards given out.
But it all depends on how and what people what from first. That going to decide whether everyone is a winner or just the winner.

But you can't forget that when you go out in the real world you will lose some compitition whether it be that dream job etc. and if you have spent your whole life believing everyone is a winner when you don't get that job it may be a harsh realization.

This was my first year in robotics. I thought it was a "real" robotics competition. It isn't, and FIRST says that. You can watch this video from 1992 when FIRST was a real robotics competition. All the awards are great, but should be separate from the robotics competition. It should be an elimination tournament and based on individual merit. If your team works hard, has a great drive team, and builds a fantastic robot, your team should be rewarded for that work. The awards should not affect rank in the robotics portion at all. If it were a true competition, more people would come to watch it. And that is the best way to spread the STEM message. FIRST needs to encourage fan support.