[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

To win three years in a row a team has to really be on fire, really doing something incredible year after year. Isnt that what the award is for?

Two points I have to make on this.

1) A Chairmans award is yes the highest award a team can be honored with, but I also think that when a team wins it 2 or 3 years at the same regional then it is telling all of the other teams that they have to be better than that one team who is "on fire" as you put it. Some teams we know are great in spreading the message of FIRST. They win awards, they host mini comps, and they mentor FLL teams. No question that they are great.

But for another team's perspective one view is that they should just give up on Chairman's since this team is unstoppable.

Now, the other hand is the perspective of seeing this unstoppable team and striving to be as good as they are. (Same thing happens in the actual competitions to some rather well known teams who have won regionals and The Championship events multiple times)

2) Another thing I noticed, but I think the FRC judges are biased towards teams who mentor FLL teams and hold FRC mini comps. Every team does not have the resources to do these things even though they have been around for many many years. If that is a requirement then state that in the awards submission rules in the manual, if it isn't.. then I don't know..
But it just seems to be.

<Maybe I will see if all the teams who won Chairman's this year has mentored FLL teams or Run a mini comp. It would be an interesting study and prove a bias if one exists..>

Originally Posted by KenWittlief

Would you not allow a team to win the regional two years in a row? If they won the previous year, should they be forced to sit out the playoffs, and let someone else have a turn?

No, and I think this is a bad comparison for one reason.
The game changes from one year to the next, but the main goal of FIRST is the inspiration of Science and Technology and that doesn't change from one year to the next.

BUT... I believe when a Team is deemed a Chairman's team then you are in fact giving them ammunition to go back to the community and spread the message even further. If that you give the same that ammunition every year, it kind of loses it's effect across the board to inspire Science and technology but in that one area where that team is from.

I just had a thought, but what if a Chairman's award winning team came with responsibilities. Just like a Miss America Pageant is not really a Beauty contest but rather a scholarship pageant and the message of the winner is to spread their goal across the nation (world peace, cure for a disease, etc.) FIRST should be a Inspirational contest and not all about the robots.
To do this, Chairman's award winners should be required to spread the message even further. Public Appearances, and everything else. When you win Chairman's this also gives you the ammunition to go to sponsors (new or old) and give them a proven strategy to help change the world.