[fuzzwaz]

Whenever a season is about to start a team (or at least each member on a team) comes up with some picture perfect goal for their team to achieve. When they do it often comes up along with the words "this is our year, our time".

Anyone who knows me personally knows I’m a sportsy guy. I've been on many sports teams and I love watching sports in general. Whenever anyone compares FIRST to Sports I get excited beyond belief because I firmly believe that FIRST teams can learn some lessons from the athletic world.

However, there is one key difference between a football team and a robotics team. The words "this is our time" fit way more with the football team then the robotics team.

First we got to know what they mean by that. When a sports team says "this is our time" it really means that this is their season to go all the way and win it all. This is not necessarily what it means for a robotics team... Sure, most of the time it probably means being champions at worlds, but it could also mean winning the chairmans award at any level or being an alliance captain at a regional.

"Our time"
-High School football team: State Champs
-Robotics Team: World Champs, Chairmans award, Recognized success

So now we see the very very very common goals or ideals a team sets for themselves in their head before a season starts. This is where the differences between FIRST and sports come into play however. A football team must only rely on themselves for their misfortune. I live in Michigan, the Lions lose to themselves every week, but they control their future never the less. If they win, then they win it all.

A FIRST robotics team is not that simple. A team can win every single match by blowout numbers and not get picked. Why is that? No matter what you do, you are always relying on other members of the FIRST community to recognize it. It’s hard to completely control your fate on a FIRST robotics team. You can go all the way to the finals at worlds and watch as one of your alliance partner's robots breaks down mid match. You were not there when they built their robot. You really had no say in what happened.

This is really why I believe a lot of teams face disappointments. Good and well deserving teams don’t always make it where they should.

To answer your question, you have to be proud of what you've done. And sure, being a tad disappointed is nothing but normal. But with what you are given for being on a FIRST robotics team you can’t always expect to put in your good hard work and come out as world champions. So take what you have been given and use it as hope for the future. And whatever the future may be, it’s going to be better just because you were part of the FIRST program in general, so no disappointment is needed. ;D