[Yoel2630]

Our team(2630) discussed this matter in the past. And we strongly believe that you must stick to the rules. Most rules have good reasons, and we may question some of them and try to change them, but we will respect the official rules.
It's a competition, and as professionals we can't break the rules.
It's also kind of a mission to set an example to others.The fact is, when you look at great teams that succeeded(doesn't have to be a winner, but as a well formed team that enjoys it self and does there best) , you realize that it's a lot more satisfying to achieve things in the legal method.

I'm not sure how it goes in the USA but I'm sure it's not that different.
When you look at the road, you may notice a lot of illegal things that people do. One of the more common ones iv'e seen and upsetting one is that people don't fully stop for a stop signs, they will slow down enough not to cause any danger but, a lot won't fully stop. I think that people bending this rule isn't that bad, but when you later see people passing speed limits you understand that bending rules isn't okay, because not everybody is fully capable of doing it in a logical way. Therefore, sticking to the rules must be done any where, you get used to it eventually.

To conclude, I think the mentors on the team should push the kids to knowing the manual perfectly, we have a kid on the team, that his job is to know the manual, and we use him a lot. (we all read it, but he's the expert)

please excuse me for any mistakes or wrong use of term. My native language is Hebrew.

And off the record, I've broken rules in my life,not perfect,sorry. But I truly believe these times didn't harm or effect anyone in a bad manner. But when it comes to FIRST,you must stick to the rules.