[OccamzRazor]

I can see a lot of changes in the NC teams taking place so I will shout out a few that I have noticed the last 3-4 years.

587- My old team when I was a student has changed tremendously. This team has really started to be competitive and add more daring designs to their machines every year. From that tape measure climber in 2013 that actually worked to the 3D printed and modular constructions they used this year I am actually kind of jealous I moved away from Hillsborough at this point because I would love to see what they do next.

900- Speaking of what will they do next. This team has come up with several game breaking strategies in the last few years. 2014 death cycles, 2015 crossbow robots built in one day at champs, their designs lately have been highly impressive and their programming team is probably the best in the state flat out. If they had focused a bit more on their drive system this year they would have broken NC over their knee with that vision tracking turret shooter. Mr. Zebracorn, tear down this wall.

1533 - When I was told that this year was the first time they had grabbed a blue banner I was stunned. This team always makes the playoffs and they are always super competitive so I thought they had won several previously. Their designs are always super unique and this year that swank drive was insanely fun to watch. To top it all off, this year was no semi-finalist finish and go home for this team. They were a huge contender we had to have on our alliance at State Championships.

2642 - I have noticed that this team is getting steadily better and better from that regional win in 2012 forward. They make solid, fast, and very complimentary designs every year. If not for a stroke of bad battery luck in 2015 I am sure we would have clenched a regional win with them.

2655 - Starting in 2014 and probably one of the quickest turnarounds in NC, this team made an about face and became a serious contender for Chairman's and winners on the field. I don't know what they changed but it works well and their machines are strong. Now don't change a thing!

3506- My own team. I can say what I want about us good and bad because I have been with this team from the start. 2011 was a lucky miracle one trick pony rookie robot win and 2012 was rock bottom for us- our robot did nothing but balance that season.
In 2013 we did average at best and 2014 was better but we really just did not perform as well as we wanted to. Our attitude was more similar to "Man, I hope we get picked!". We did get picked often enough but only to make semis and finals as a last pick with some odd complimentary robot that happened to fit a very specific strategy.

What really turned us around and where I mark down that we have had one of the fastest flips in the state was in 2015 when we built a robot specifically to win in NC. We did not want to be picked. We wanted to be picking. We ranked decent in Georgia and 2nd seed in NC-our highest ever. Despite the stroke of bad luck mentioned above and losing in the QFs, we had worked hard enough to be presented the Chairman's Award.
Losing with one of the best robots we had ever made and with one of the best teams in NC in the QFs was crushing for the team when we were stuck with the season being over for us. Winning Chairman's a couple of hours later probably sent every kid on our team into a roller coaster of emotion. We had finally turned over a new leaf from being another mediocre at best robotics team.

It really set us up for 2016 where we seeded first at State Championships, brought our third Chairman's in a row, and a Woodie Flowers banner. 2015 changed our attitude for 2016 and we worked our tails off with the help of our other Charlotte area teams to make a difference in NC. I say this all to further indicate that we want to see others around us see our model, think about how to adopt it, and meet with the success we have discovered. We brought home 5 blue banners this season and proof that cooperating with teams prior to competition and during competition to elevate everyone competitively at the same time pays off immensely and we broadcast it because it works and we love it.
Here you go other team - take our awesome design and beat us with it - it works for us. I see this from successful teams a lot in the videos the teams post.

Hopefully the NC district will one day be as competitive as Michigan and Cali because of this model and I can share even better improvements.