Seeing this thread, it really makes me think back to a conversation I had last week with another mentor and one of our students. It seems the awards are getting everyone too heated. And it really not at all about the plastic trophies. Its really awesome that some teams are good enough to win at multiple regionals, and they are definitely not at fault for not "opting" out as 1511 or many other teams have done. Some teams dont think of it, some just get caught up in the craziness of the competition season and forget, some dont realize they are in the running twice.
In the end, its really about does your team "get" it. Do they really know what FIRST is about, are they really spreading that bug to other teams, to people in the community, to middleschoolers. The awards can be somewhat political, they can be somewhat propaganda, there can be teams overlooked because they just dont have enough people to produce great documentation, huge pits, etc. All of this happens, but in my opinion, none of it matters as much as if your team really inspires students. I know a lot of people would probably tell me "well thats only because your team has won a ton of awards." Well I come from two teams that didnt win a single official FIRST award until after I left. 7 years in FIRST and not a single trophy. But it didnt matter, I stuck with FIRST, and I knew I was inspired, and I was able to inspire those around me.
Personally, I think FIRST should come up with a way of limiting teams to wining championship qualifiers only once. Whether it be by submitting to one of your regionals, or just telling the judges "these teams are ineligible". There are many teams that have their sponsors say they can only attend champs if they win... or rookie teams that just cant go without qualifying.
However, my congratulations do go out to the teams that have won the RAS. Its an awesome award, and no matter how many times you win it, its something to be proud of, and we wish you the best of luck at championships
