Our team was in a similar situation after we won the Rookie All-Star award in 2002. That award didn't qualify us to go the Championship Event, but it motivated us to go as we realized that we had a really good robot and it would be a shame not to compete when we had the opportunity. (We were an even-numbered team in a even-numbered year, a rule that has been changed.)
In any case, one way that we made money was to raffle off robotic vacuum cleaners. They cost $250 and we sold 1000 tickets for $500 each. (We actually raffled off one vacuum for every 500 tickets.) The students sold a bunch of them in front of grocery stores, to relatives, neighbors, parents, etc.
Anyway, if you need raffle tickets, I have a pdf of tickets that you could use with very little change needed by me. Email me at
info@team980.com if you are interested. (I would send you a pdf file to print with all the tickets numbered with stubs, etc. with your team # on the tickets.)
Let me know.
Looking forward to seeing you in Atlanta!
Doug Hogg
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FIRST Team 980, The ThunderBots
2002: S. California Rookie All Stars
2004: S. California: Regional Champion,
Championship Event: Galileo 2nd seed,
IRI: Competition Winner, Cal Games: Competition Winner
2005: Arizona: 1st seed
Silicon Valley: Regional Champion (Thanks Teams 254 and 22)
S. California: Regional Runners Up (Thanks Teams 22 and 968)