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Re: FIRST Competition Entry Fee Increases for 2005
I may have missed this in the posts above, but no one bothered to mention the Additional Team Grants. The quote below is from the email being discussed in this thread:
"What are the additional team grants?
FIRST is creating an additional pool of $200,000 for team grants for teams in need to offset the challenge created by the increase in the registration fees. This will be in addition to the team grants offered through the FIRST Underserved Initiative and through sponsors such as NASA. We will communicate the parameters and procedures for applying for these new grants as soon as they are available."
If you want to know what FIRST is doing with this money, read the entire email and they tell us exactly what they are doing. If there are 1000 teams this year and each have to pay $1000 more then 1/5 of that money is going straight back to those teams who are in need.
Many people on this board complain that teams have a lot more money than others, and I agree that this is true. To me it looks like FIRST is once again listening and trying to even the playing field by charging everyone a larger fee, but giving some back to the teams who don’t have major sponsorship. I see it as a steal from the rich; give to the poor type of thing.
On the topic of paying out of pocket for FIRST participation I would prefer to see people not do it, but usually think of it more as an investment. After participating in FIRST for 5 years, I have paid out of pocket for travel to 4 nationals, 4 Regionals, and other off-season competitions. What have I gotten back from all of this? More than 10 times that value in scholarships and jobs (And that’s just the dollars). Although it is better to have sponsors investing in your future, at an extra $50 per person (20 student team), I would say it’s worth it.
Eric
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