[Steve W]

I agree wholly with helping rookie teams. I have made it known that I am willing to help anyone that asks. I have gone to schools, worked over the internet and on the phone. Team 188 is not a powerhouse. We are however a team that does "well" and has learned from trail and error. We are not above collaborating with teams on certain components (not my choice) or using others ideas to improve. We do however build and design our own robots and those we help also build their own robots.

The teams that we have helped one year come back less and less for help or advice as they grow and improve. Heck some are better than us and we are learning from them.

Growing FIRST does not come from just robot build. How many times this year have we seen teams that have been around for a long time fold up because of lack of funds. MONEY is a big key to success. Without being taught to stand on their own, teams will never stop crawling. FIRST is about the real world. What would happen tomorrow if the triplets lost all of their GM sponsorship? I know that 1680 has EDS as a sponsor and that they would probably be around. Would they be at the same competitive level? Who knows. This is a hard time for teams raising money. I think that it is great that GM puts so much into teams. Do they go out and bang on the doors of their suppliers, dealerships, advertising agencies to get them too pitch in? How many teams have been started from this type of involvement? Have the kids had to worry as much about affording a part as those that have to sell 10 more cases of candy to purchase the same part? These are all FIRST experiences.

I may come off as someone that is jealous. Not so. Our team does fairly well. We have long time sponsors and constantly seeking new ones. The kids and mentors do fund raising activities. We are probably classified as one of the better off teams. We do work for it and we do have to consider all purchases and decisions. Our team is not going to Championships this year as we did not earn our way and the students were given a choice of extra regional or Championship. Our team does help others (as does 1114, they even helped us out) and we give supplies to other teams.

I guess what I am saying is that I don't want mega teams but teams that help build FIRST one step at a time. I respect JVN but I know that we disagree about winning being a way to grow teams. There are over 1000 teams and only about 100 winners. If you take away multiple winners then the number is even worse. Some teams have never won. I have also seen brighter lights shining in the eyes of a rookie team that just got their robot running than in some of the teams that winning has become second nature. We must remember that we keep those that participate and can see results of their actions and we lose those that are only watchers. We MUST have teams that encourage independent thinking and self sustainment otherwise FIRST will start a downward trend.