[Kris Verdeyen]

All teams have finite resources. There is only so much money, time, blood, sweat, et cetera, that a team can put into this competition. For some teams, including team 118, that threshold is, comparitively, pretty high.

What Lucien is pointing out is that, by allowing teams that attend several regionals to be more competitive, both in being more likely to qualify for nationals, and by having a better prepared robot and team when they get there, they are forcing other teams to make a choice.

The choice is to either use those finite resources to further the mission of FIRST, or use those finite resources to further the success of your team.

Now, please understand that we realize the success of a team is not measured in awards and trophies, but by the inspiration of the students. Nonetheless, the choice being presented to us here is between having a successful team and being recognized as a successful team, and there is something wrong with a system that forces that choice upon us.