[Bob Steele]

Originally Posted by SoftwareBug2.0

Amusingly, what one of your example teams, 5803, did is consistent with that strategy: They skipped high goals in favor of low goals and a good climber.

I think it's fair to call out rookies as teams that may struggle. FIRST has a learning curve. When I think of teams from my region that stood out as successful at playing the game as rookies I think of teams like:

5803 (as you mentioned)
4488
1983
1359

But these teams all had at least something that most rookies wouldn't. For 5803 I know that they had at least one mentor who used to be with Skunkworks. For 4488 they had some folks who used to be part of 1510 or 2898. For 1983 they're literally located at aerospace-focused STEM magnet school. For 1359 I forget the exact history but they had all new students, but mentors for whom it wasn't their first rodeo.

I think I should add that I really enjoyed competing with 5803 this year and their robot design was one of my favorites.

By the way, I really enjoy working with rookie teams in general. I admire their enthusiasm, willingness to learn, and humility. I always have to stifle a laugh when I run into somebody at champs who thinks they're a big shot because their team number is three digits and they won an event as a backup bot. I still remember when people would come up to me and say "your team number is really high, like I didn't realize they gave them out that high yet."

We had a great time working with you in our Rookie year (2007)!! both in Portland and in Las Vegas..... That was a fun ride..... ahhh memories... just 10 years ago!! Stephanie Morrison, is one of our alumni and a chief mentor for 5803 was on that team....