Quote:
Originally Posted by jamie_1930
I was just wondering if anyone else has seen this happen to them, are there any teams that have disbanded since FIRST's inseption?
|
In 2009, there are approximately 1700 teams (1682, IIRC), and the highest number is at least 3122. They occasionally skip a few numbers, but based on those numbers it indicates that something like 40% of all FIRST teams fold.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koko Ed
I know team 144 which was the first team in FIRST history to win the Championship Chairman's award and the Championship (but not in the smae year though it was close) folded in 2003 and the mentors are now leading 1038.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimmy Nichols
Wow! I didn't know that was the first year for the Championship Chairmans.
|
No, it wasn't the first year of the Championship Chairman's. The Chairman's Award has been around since the beginning (1992). In 1994, Team 144 won the championship, and in 1996, team 144 won the Chairman's Award. Team 144 was the first team to have ever won both.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimmy Nichols
Yeah our parent team (144) disbanded when the school stopped supporting the team. The lead teacher mentor, mentors, and sponsor all left and formed 1038. We tried to take our number, but FIRST wouldn't let us.
|
It's interesting when FIRST allows teams that switch schools to keep the same number and when they don't. I'm not sure what that decision is based on. I've heard that the number stays with the school, but I know of two examples (and therefore suspect it's happened a lot more) where that was not the case -- all the mentors stayed together, but switched schools, and kept the same team number. In both these cases, the old school no longer had a team.
In 1994, Team 144 was with Walnut Hills High School. At some point after that, they switched to Northwest High School. I don't know which school they were with in 1996.
In 2000, Team 488 was Redmond High School. They didn't participate in 2001. In 2002, Team 488 reformed with Franklin High School.