Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Freeman
Obviously FIRST is not about winning competitions, but I have never seen our students more inspired and excited about participating in this program than when a machine they helped design, build, and operate has just won a competition.
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It's a learning curve. Many rookie teams and some veterans are happy just to be able complete the build and prepare for the pending competition(s). As veteran teams mature then their aspirations mature with them, change with them. Rookie teams and 1st and 2nd year teams can have break-out years in some areas, true - but it takes growth, development, and constant awareness/vigilance to become strong in all the areas of the FRC competition.
With regard to some of the blanket statements I read about 'FIRST is not about winning' - it makes me think of the Recognition part of FIRST that isn't talked about much. It is thrown in with the whole shibang but I rarely see it discussed by itself. Recognition plays a big part: recognizing achievements, successes, attitude, wins, reputations, career paths, innovations, developments and initiatives. It can also be about how the teams/individuals have garnered their achievements/successes.
Nothing comes easy in FRC, from finding sponsors through finding mentors through sticking with a budget, time line, game plan. All of it takes a lot work, a lot of thought, a lot of team effort. If there are a small group of people who put together a poll ranking teams, I'm sure they are taking all of this into consideration.
Also, this is CD. It is an informal poll, created by, again, a small group of people, who care about teams and value achievements. I'm not big on just looking at the FRC competitions through a sports lens, I think that limits/narrows the possibilities and opportunities of the FRC community but I can see that it creates an easy handle for young people and to an extent, marketing the competitions/program.