[Ian Mackenzie]

I think every team that can afford to go to two regionals should do so - I've seen so many teams that become much, much better, and therefore much, much more inspiring, at their second event.

Some might argue that the inspiration doesn't come from winning matches, but that's not what I'm getting at - I think the real inspiration comes from simply seeing your own robot out on the field, doing what it's supposed to do and doing it well. In 2001, for instance (my last year of high school), my team's robot was way too complex, and we ended up second-last in our division; however, I was the lead designer on a pair of gearboxes that year (the first year we moved away from the drill transmissions), and they worked perfectly. I think that was really a landmark moment for me, when I saw that you really could come up with an idea, push for it to be implemented, make some drawings, build the thing, and have it work well in competition.

Winning is nice (and there's no doubt that a second regional is a competitive advantage), but I think the really important part is seeing that you really can take on a complex, demanding technical challenge and create an effective, working solution. Especially with a complex robot, there's a very good chance that your robot won't work properly at its first competition, and in that case I think spending another $4000 so that the whole team can get a sense of accomplishment from watching their robot work well is the best possible way that money could be spent.