[ALIBI]

That is one of the nice things about FIRST. Unless you are able to get considerable drive time before the ship date, you do not usually have to worry about Ball Bearings. Think of it this way, 24 hours of running your robot equals about 640 matches, with very little continuous use. We have never had problems with ball bearings on our robot. I guess it depends on what you consider long periods of use.

EDIT: Making certain that they are lined up to begin with also helps.