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Originally posted by Todd Derbyshire
I can see it now a team in the semifinal gets paired against a team who is already qualifed. Oh wait we forfeit and that team gets to go to the final while two other teams have to battle it out to reach the final.
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I very highly doubt a team would do that. This isn't the NFL or something where the only goal is to win the superbowl. It's all about the thrill of competition and watching your robot do what you designed it to do. And also, what about the original teams like TechnoKats? Are they going to skip all regionals and only attend the nationals? No, the regionals are incredible competitions as well and in some cases are better than nationals. If a team doesn't qualify for nationals, take advantage of the almost 20 regionals that are offered this year. Try to goto 2 or 3 or, since you save so much money for not going to nationals, even try to goto 4! This way you can experience the competition the same way you would at nationals except you most likely will get to meet more teams this way. Then the next year you know you are garaunteed to be able to compete at nationals.
Also, I just wanted to point out something in the letter. This will give you an idea of where FIRST is coming from:
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It is the process rather than product or performance that is at the core of what makes FIRST unique.
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The competitions are simply an afterthought, and although they are important for attracting new members, if the only reason you participate in FIRST is for the national competition then you are missing the whole point of FIRST. Also there are plenty of regionals (as I pointed out above) that can satisfy those of you who want to compete and socialize with other teams.