[sgreco]

You can't learn half the lessons FIRST has to teach if you aren't competing. In my mind, telling everyone they are "winners" takes away a lot from the competition and the fun.

Everyone learns, everyone benefits, everyone has a good overall experience, but it doesn't mean everone "wins." When I am playing a sport and I'm told by an adult that "everybody wins," I'm inclined to belive that everybody lost. Nobody learned about healthy, gracious and proffessional competition and nobody had the joy of winning.

FIRST kids aren't dumb, as a matter of fact, they're pretty smart. If you tell them "hey you missed eliminations and didn't get any awards, but you're still a winner," not only will they not believe you, but it won't help them in any way. Saying everybody wins doesn't help the actual loser, and it only makes the winners feel like they didn't truly accomplish anything.

Frankly, my team was terrible at the Boston regional this year, I was not a happy camper. I certainly wasn't a "winner," but that doesn't mean I didn't learn any thing, or have fun during the build season. Not everything has to be coated in fluff, if you lose, lose and you have to deal with it.

FIRST is great because even if you lose at the competition, you still learn a lot and it's really fun.