[Bethie42]

Our team has always gotten by on a really small budget [one regional, + a couple hundred dollars for parts]. There are teams in our area who have a $30k budget, but I don't think we have ever minded the disparity, because we perform comparatively to them at regionals.

This year we were within a hair's breadth of not being able to afford FRC, period. [Our large sponsor ended funding two years ago because of the economy.] Fortunately some small grants came through, and we got a NASA sustaining-grant after all.

I personally consider a 'have' team to be one which can afford one regional, AND has strong mentor/student/school support. [But that's just my perception, having been in a small private school which has almost no funding to spare for us.]
We're actually looking forward to a really good year, because of some great students and a large mentor population.

I think even ONE really dedicated student can make a huge difference to the team. This year, our fundraising has been spearheaded by one person [me]. The rest of our small team is willing to help, but they are almost all brand-new students and it is really hard to explain FIRST to a sponsor when you have never been to a regional We've had them help with bake sales and the like, but that is a slow hard way to earn money.

I feel honored to have been able to help our team so much: but I am very worried that things will go downhill next year, after I graduate. We need to make it a priority to make sure the rest of the team gets taught how to do my job. Sometimes it is easier to do things yourself than try and teach someone else how to do it.


In the last weeks there have been some great success stories from teams I know personally, and I am so excited that they pulled victory from the jaws of 'no-regional'. However, I also know personally a local team that won't be able to compete.

Here in Oregon there are two big university towns: Corvallis [OSU] and Eugene [U of O]. OSU has a reputation as a big engineering school, and U of O as more liberal-arts. As a result, there are a lot of engineering and tech businesses here in Corvallis, and I think that is responsible for the 6 FRC teams in Corvallis and surrounding towns. Eugene, on the other hand, a much bigger city, has only one team. They are going into their 4th year, but I just heard they lost their sponsor and can't afford FRC anymore. My impression is that Eugene does not attract people or businesses who are willing to invest in engineering programs like FIRST.

I think it is such a shame that these kids are now going to have to either drive 45 minutes to one of our teams, or miss out on FIRST. I take it as an example of how having a large engineering community can foster team sustainability.