[KathieK]

Speaking strictly as an adult mentor (and not reflecting my team's opinion), I'd rather win a Regional Chairman's Award. The CA honors teams who are doing above and beyond creating a great competitive robot. It recognizes the efforts of team members who may not be into the robot design and building process (but who may have skills in marketing, computer programming and animation, accounting, writing, etc. - all skills that are necessary on a well-rounded team). It recognizes year-round efforts by team members and their impact on their community and partnerships with their sponsors and schools.

Of course it is an honor to win a Regional Competition as well, which is recognition of an intense 6 week build cycle.

But in the end, it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it's how you've played the game that counts. The goal of FIRST isn't to win anything, it's all about the process you went through to get there.