[skippy178]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread.

Let me state a few things about my perspective of FRC.

I am a relatively new mentor at Team 178- I had a lot to do with our team for FRC 2007Rack'n'Roll (my first year of FIRST), but then very little to do with it this year (a lot to do with my personal schedule at home and workload at work).

Last year, the team took home the EIA in Atlanta, but this year, our team seemed to struggle a bit, and really didn't seem to have as much momentum going into our local regional and to Atlanta. The ever-changing team dynamic as old members move on to college and new members come into the team is definitely something that forces FIRST teams to have to find new ways of re-energizing themselves on a regular basis (and definitely this is different to the business world I live in daily).

I have no sour grapes against teams who have competed in multiple regionals, nor with those teams who out-designed, out-programmed, and out-lasted the team I've been involved with. You guys, gals, gents and ladies have done everything in your power, and within the current rules of FIRST, to attain those goals - the programs you initiated to start new FLL, FTC and FRC teams were innovative, as were the robots themselves, and also the many other ways that teams reach out to their communites, educators, and legislators to put science and technology on the same pedestal as sport is often viewed. All of these are good things that come out of FIRST.

Maybe I've been hung up on the term "regional", and as others have pointed out, the word "invitational" maybe seems a better fit for the way the current FRC competition operates.

I think I also feel strongly that FIRST needs to figure out how to allow newer teams (and mine is NOT in this category, so this isn't some sort of self-fulfilling barrow I'm pushing) to be recognized for their efforts across ALL categories, not just Rookie Inspiration / All-Star / Highest Seed.

Should there be a purely rookie-focused championship series (in addition to the existing Championship) where only new teams of 1-2 years standing in FRC are eligible to compete ? Multiple competition tiers in FRC would be similar to what is found in baseball with the major/minor leagues and also in other sports.

As an added wrinkle for 2009, I think the new control system has the potential to exacerbate the gap between veteran, well-resourced teams, and those who are new or struggling to attract mentors who can assist the teams to program the new control system (whether that's in LabView or C/C++). Personally I am excited about the possibilities, but in a 6 week FRC build season, it will be a challenge to really learn how to wring maximum performance out of the new system and make the most out of it - hopefully we'll get enough time in the pre-season period to familiarize ourselves with the hardware and software, and enough on-field time to iron the bugs out (again, it seems that the ability to compete in multiple regionals may really enhance the performance of those teams who can do this)

J