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Re: Darwin???
Our team has been competing in BEST for the past two years.
All I can say is that the students have gotten a great deal out of it.
It has only cost us travel expenses and next year we are going to start an Indiana HUB. This way we can help many of the schools around us get the robotics experience. Of course the robot is less complicated, and smaller.
But an entire hub's projected cost is around $30,000. That is the money necessary to purchase EVERYTHING for 25 teams to compete!!
This already has prize money built into it for the winners to help them go the Regional (National) competitions...
Sure, the trophies are less glitzy... the competitions look more like high school athletic competitions and not the FINAL FOUR..., but there is a lot to be said for not having to worry about where the extra money is going to come from when FIRST raises the bar (oops I mean...raises the COSTS..) AND they require money in advance...
I have hesitated to bring up BEST on this forum... I have found the people that run it amicable and they are ALL volunteers... BEST has only one paid employee..
If anyone is interested just send me a message...
Don't get me wrong I love FIRST and what it does... but we, along with many other teams are feeling the pinch... not only the pinch of our sponsors pulling out...or reducing their contributions ... but the pinch of the team advisors having to continually be on the search for more money.. its always more... more to FIRST.... more travel expenses... more equipment to be competitive... more more more...
enough, I will get off the soap box...
I would love to see FIRST in every high school but it will NEVER happen given the costs we see today...
thanks for reading
yours in robotics....
Bob
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