Where's the Gracious Professionalism?

[J-Blondie]

Alright, so Week 6 has come to an end and World Championships are fast approaching. There are still some regional/district champ competitions left to finish up before them as well. I figured I would make this post now seeing as it has been a big problem since competition began and I keep seeing more of it.

This year, the FRC community was handed a difficult game. It's a game with no endgame that is heavily based on cooperation between alliance partners. That cooperation need even went into many teams designs in order to gain the most possible points per match. It was obvious from the beginning that the game itself was going to be confusing, and that referees and other regional volunteers would have their work cut out for them each week as they faced a game which could be decided on fouls and technical fouls. A lot of people have even said that this is their least favorite FRC season, and I can understand that. It has been a rocky road for a lot of teams and there have been issues and problems that could have probably been fixed in the moment had people taken the time to fix things. But in FRC, especially at competition, not everything can be fixed between matches. I am sure the refs have tried their best this season. There are plenty of referees that are veteran volunteers and understand the importance of making good calls and quickly getting results to teams. There are also plenty of new people who had their first refereeing experience with this game and who had a challenge doing that job because of the game design. Many teams, my team included, may not have gotten the best calls sometimes. And yes sometimes it may have decided a match or two. Even though that is unfortunate, and everyone seems to want to play a blame game now, I think we all need to remember a few things.

FIRST was NOT established to be a competition based on winning. It was established to give kid of all ages a way to learn about science and technology and how it could lead them into careers that would pay off for themselves and their greater communities, countries and the world. I have been a part of FRC for 8 years and I have been in FIRST for 11 years. I have seen plenty of teams get upset about losing, or about bad calls over the years, but this year has been overwhelming with the lack of compassion I have seen and the lack of gracious professionalism. I have only worked with two different FRC teams, and the experience was great. I may not have the fame or experiences that other people have who regularly post here, but I have always been someone who needs to say something when I see big problems arise.

I think it's great to win a regional, I've been there once. I think it's great to see your team perform well and earn that championship trip via a working robot. Let's be honest here. Only 3 teams out of usually a 50 team average are going to win the regional. We all know that going in. Usually, only 3 teams become World Champions. According to the stats that FIRST gives us, there are 2,720 FRC teams total. Each one of those teams, each one of those 68,000 team members and the countless mentors all start off each season with a hope, a simple dream. We all want to win a regional, and then go on to win the world championship, but the truth is, it's not in the odds for most teams. It may be a harsh reality to face but it's true. As a mentor, I don't focus on the need to win. I focus on what the students are going to carry on throughout their lives and what will inspire them to choose a promising career that they feel confident about. I focus on helping them build memories that they will remember most about the program. As great as it would be for them to have the memory of winning, I could really care less about that.

Another thing I should touch on is that I understand that it's an expensive program and that sometimes, it's way easier to get sponsors if you have won a prestigious award, or a regional or of course the world championship. My team is a self-admitted poor team. We would love to win some awards or the regional, but we accept that it's not in the cards sometimes. I know a lot of teams and I know a lot of great mentors who do wonderful things for their students, and I'm not blaming anyone for the lack of GP this year, but I know there has been a turn in FIRST where winning has taken a precedent and has become for many what it's all about. Let's turn back from that path now while we can. All I ask is that we remember what it's about, and forget the hardships that we've had this season with the game, referees and everything else. A new season will be upon us again in 8 months. Enjoy the time whether you're going to the world championship or not. Use it to become closer with your team members over something not centered on robots. Team members can be an amazing source of lifetime friendship and fun! Especially in the off-season when the pressure is off!

I got to meet two people between last year's world championship and week one regionals this year. I got to meet Dave Lavery and I got to meet Woodie Flowers. Both of them have an awesome presence in the FIRST community and both are people who I look up to in one way or another. Meeting both of these people was just like meeting someone on my level, even though they are both well known, popular people. Both experiences helped me realize that what I love about FIRST is the people, and the attitude that we are all here for the purpose of inspiring the future generations. It's part of why I write this post, because I want more people to be like them, and to remember why we do this year after year, running off pizza and Mountain Dew and the excitement that the season brings. I won't be at world championships this year, but I hope that the gathering of so many great students and mentors has a little bit more gracious professionalism as the season draws to a close.

I also ask that any complaints to specific situations or events remain in the other threads that are discussing the problems with the game and season as opposed to this one. You can however share some awesome things you experienced this season here, because I think this season needs a little more sharing of the good things to show people that it wasn't all that bad in the scheme of things.

[Grim Tuesday]

Am I the only individual who doesn't like it when people get preachy about "gracious professionalism?" Calling out this thread for sugar coating things for people who don't really need to be taught a lesson in what FIRST is about.

I saw this quote in relationship to this thread, posted by the very popular "Robotics Memes" Facebook page. I do not believe this thread is sugarcoating things - I think it is bringing up something that is very often forgotten on this forum.

I deeply agree with J-Blondie's sentiment that FIRST is not about winning. It can't be: At a 60 team regional, only 3 teams will win. In fact, 60% of teams will not even get to eliminations. Only 15% of teams will attend Championships. The people who browse and comment on Chief Delphi are the FIRST Fanatics. They are the people who belong to teams that work countless hours, raise thousands of dollars and end up doing respectably on Saturday afternoon. Remember that when making generalizations about the FIRST community, we base them on what we know, and we know what we see on CD, which is not representative.

But let's remember all FIRST participants, and what matters to them. The memories of long nights, troubleshooting, teamwork, leadership, mentorship, inspiration, and friendship are all experiences everyone, not just the members of winning teams will carry with them in life. Those are the parts of FIRST that matter to everyone universally. The issues with one game will fade away after a few years. These other things will stay for life.

Often, all we talk about on CD is what is wrong with the game. Sure, there are problems with it. Bad calls have been made and they have decided regionals. This should not happen, and it hurts the whole community that this is what defined the year. It isn't so bad, however, that it has compromised the entire meaning of FIRST. I don't think it is worth the hurtful and non-constructive comments I've been seeing around. We need to remember what FIRST is really about. It sure isn't about winning.

[J-Blondie]

Thanks for the reply, believe me I saw my face on the Facebook page and was surprised by the quote you shared about the post. I am responding as elegantly as possible. I have no problem with criticism of what I post, as it's there to help people and try and change an attitude that has been brewing this year. I understand that mistakes have been made this season, and I understand that robots have been severely damaged or teams who should have won a match didn't because of penalties that should or shouldn't have been called and all that. I really do get it. But as I said on the "Robotics Memes" page, the solution to all that is not sarcasm and "I hate this game" "I hate the refs" "I hate that my team lost" or even "The GDC made a terrible game". I have seen all kinds of those responses and not enough "We are all human" "Mistakes were made but it's ok". I realize now it might not be ok for some teams. It may not even be ok next season, but we all know that FIRST has the teams in mind and that they try their best to fix the problems that occur. They can't fix everything though and we know that, so sometimes it's best to just ask yourselves and your team "What did we learn this year?" and "Why was this season GOOD" instead of only dwelling on the bad.

[Koko Ed]

This year is no different than any other year. It's not like controversy and anger have suddenly found their way into FIRST. There's just more means for folks to projectile vomit their acid online than there was ever before.
With the stakes getting higher it's only going to get worse in the coming weeks.

[Navid Shafa]

FIRST: The I stands for Inspiration.

A lot of the big issues that have arisen this season have impacted a large quantity of students, mentors and teams negatively.

No one should have to leave a season feeling shorted out of anything less than a great experience. Everyone deserves a fair chance. A fair chance to play the game, a fair chance to be heard and reasoned with, a fair chance to win, a fair chance to experience the beauty of this program.

I stand firm on everything I've said so far, simply because of this:

Many things that have happened this year are simply un-inspiring. Sure, we all like to win and some of us compete very hard to do so, but at the end of the day, I realize this is a by-product of the program. However, when we fail to uphold the very credence of our program, when we go against the very core of the Mission and Vision of FIRST, then something has to change.

[Citrus Dad]

Originally Posted by Navid Shafa

FIRST: The I stands for Inspiration.

I stand firm on everything I've said so far, simply because of this:

Many things that have happened this year are simply un-inspiring. Sure, we all like to win and some of us compete very hard to do so, but at the end of the day, I realize this is a by-product of the program. However, when we fail to uphold the very credence of our program, when we go against the very core of the Mission and Vision of FIRST, then something has to change.

I agree with Navid. I think the issue is not that teams are losing unexpectedly, but the way that they are losing. We lost in the SVR final due to our own actions while facing a superstrong alliance so we came away satisfied; 1323 didn't have an opportunity to play for a win in the semi-finals because of what appears to be arbitrary officiating decision. And we all can cite other examples where teams lost because of factors created by individuals outside of the playing alliances. That makes it difficult to be happy about the experience for many students and mentors. We are the consumers of what FIRST is offering, and we have the right and obligation to ask for a better product when we see problems. Most of the problems are fixable (and there will always be issues--look at the NFL which has many more resources to bring to this.)

BTW, my understanding from someone close to the game design process is that the original design called for two more scorers to assist the referees.

[popnbrown]

Originally Posted by Citrus Dad

BTW, my understanding from someone close to the game design process is that the original design called for two more scorers to assist the referees.

Any idea why that wasn't so for the first few regionals? I've heard they started to add them in after sometime. Midwest Regional (week 6) had 2 additional refs as scorers (or 4...i might just be referring to elims).

[J-Blondie]

Originally Posted by popnbrown

Any idea why that wasn't so for the first few regionals? I've heard they started to add them in after sometime. Midwest Regional (week 6) had 2 additional refs as scorers (or 4...i might just be referring to elims).

As far as this, I think that volunteer numbers were low at many regionals. I know FIRST was still calling for volunteers. In the end, I think it's possible they had a lack of experienced volunteers who were willing to referee. Reffing is a tough job, and I'm sure to most volunteers it's extremely intimidating to most people. I won't volunteer for that position in small competitions I've helped out with in the off-season because even then it's tough and the only thing at stake then is glory and a trophy and it's mostly for fun.

That said, the negativity against the refs this season isn't going to help volunteer numbers for reffing either, which is also a thing to consider. Whether what we need is more volunteers, an easier game to referee or more training in that aspect, that is the feedback you should give to FIRST. Information on how, from a team perspective, things went wrong so that hopefully in future seasons it can be fixed.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by J-Blondie

I think it's possible they had a lack of experienced volunteers who were willing to referee. Reffing is a tough job, and I'm sure to most volunteers it's extremely intimidating to most people.

That said, the negativity against the refs this season isn't going to help volunteer numbers for reffing either, which is also a thing to consider.

I have to agree. I volunteered as a rookie ref, wound up on a 6-ref crew (who were experienced and had worked together before). Due to the ref layout (4 refs + head ref), one of us was always on break. But, that was Week 1.

By Week 4, some head refs, like the one for the competition I added to my reffing schedule, had figured out that more refs were needed, in addition to FIRST's adding two refs (1 on break and 1 at the truss). For that one, we threw all 8 of us on the field for elims--1 head ref, 2 refs focused on scoring, 1 ref focused on fouls, and 4 refs targeting both scoring and fouls. I saw a Week 6 event with a similar layout.

But here's the thing--after that Week 1 event, I saw a post indicating that one or more of the refs from my Week 1 crew were reconsidering reffing again. It's not an easy job to find volunteers for, it's even harder to find experienced volunteers... and given the amount of criticism they get, I wouldn't be surprised if some of them drop every year, particularly this year. I'll be back next year, probably...

But I do have a suggestion for any Volunteer Coordinators reading this. If you see someone complaining about the X position (ref, reset, judge, whoever), you have my full approval (not that it matters) if you rope them right into that position next year, or for an offseason. Just to let 'em have a taste of what it's actually like.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by EricH

But I do have a suggestion for any Volunteer Coordinators reading this. If you see someone complaining about the X position (ref, reset, judge, whoever), you have my full approval (not that it matters) if you rope them right into that position next year, or for an offseason. Just to let 'em have a taste of what it's actually like.

Anyone who thinks that the volunteers are really bad at their job feel free to take a walk in their shoes this off season and see how easy it really is and see how you handle being in the crosshairs.

[J-Blondie]

Mhm. This year my team went to the new week one event down in Central Illinois. The reffing was off on some things, but it wasn't all that bad compared to some complaints, especially during week one. No serious problems with calls or anything that would have decided matches. It was clear that the refs had a lot to learn about how to work the field and how and what to call things, but that's understandable. Fast forward to week 4 Wisconsin...mostly all the same refs as week 1, but things had changed. It was clear that the group was more confident and that the team was working better together than they had during week 1. It was clear that they had gone on to learn from mistakes, missed calls, field errors, etc. and worked to make their team better so that they could handle a much larger regional.

Just one example about how people can work to improve themselves to make their jobs easier and to take some problems and resolve them. I think they did a very good job.

[J-Blondie]

Originally Posted by Citrus Dad

I agree with Navid. I think the issue is not that teams are losing unexpectedly, but the way that they are losing. We lost in the SVR final due to our own actions while facing a superstrong alliance so we came away satisfied; 1323 didn't have an opportunity to play for a win in the semi-finals because of what appears to be arbitrary officiating decision. And we all can cite other examples where teams lost because of factors created by individuals outside of the playing alliances. That makes it difficult to be happy about the experience for many students and mentors. We are the consumers of what FIRST is offering, and we have the right and obligation to ask for a better product when we see problems. Most of the problems are fixable (and there will always be issues--look at the NFL which has many more resources to bring to this.)

BTW, my understanding from someone close to the game design process is that the original design called for two more scorers to assist the referees.

I agree, 1323 in no way can be happy at the results and the reason of why they missed out on playing. Most of this post is not directed to their team. Even in the end when they realized what had happened and were forced to stay on the sidelines, their mentors and students accepted it at the time. I'm not saying they need to accept it, but I know they will follow up with FIRST and I know that FIRST will respond accordingly, be it to their team personally or to everyone.

And I agree that there should be feedback on what happened at the regionals, and I think that people have every right to ask for better circumstances in the future and for FIRST to use this season as a learning experience. However I just don't think that posting negatively towards individuals and being as awful toward situations as people have been is not in the best interest and not the type of feedback we want to pursue.

[J-Blondie]

Don't get me wrong, I think winning is just as nice and it's great if your team has that goal. I enjoy winning as much as the next person. The problem I have is when people DON'T win and then try to find every excuse for why they didn't win. My point is that not everyone can win, and while it's fine to make that your goal, when you don't win don't be negative about it. I know it's expensive and I know that the kids want to win and so do mentors.

I feel like maybe the amount of exposure to the attitude of negativity is growing, but I feel like the negativity has grown in the past couple years as well. It seems that now because most everyone has to win to get to world championships that the need to win has kind of flared negativity. It's fine to express what was wrong with the season, but I think it's better to do so constructively than to just rant about what went wrong while having no plausible solution to how things can improve. It would be great if teams who were affected by mistakes or calls could try and see how it would be easier for referees to make better calls or make the job easier for them at least. Referee training and all of the volunteer training can be intimidating, even if you've been on a FIRST team.

I don't volunteer for FRC because I'm usually helping my team, but I have judged the project for FLL regionals for 3 years or so. It's extremely intimidating to read the information packet. And it's hard knowing that you have the hopes of teams and their fate in your hands, especially if you have way more deserving teams than awards, and you always do. I sure wouldn't want to be an official having to make a split second decision based on events I saw in a match while I'm being pressured to not delay the regional to carefully review every happening. I'm sure it's stressful. While many mistakes could have been avoided, it's all in the past now. FIRST is not going to review every match where mistakes were made and discuss with every team what the problems they had were, that's just a fact of reality, but I have confidence that they will work to resolve things that they do have the power to fix the best that they can. All I'm asking is that we ask for changes and try to have enough compassion as a whole to understand that bad things happen and that there's always the opportunity to move on and learn from it.

[Navid Shafa]

Originally Posted by J-Blondie

It seems that now because most everyone has to win to get to world championships that the need to win has kind of flared negativity.

I won't argue that teams want to win so they can advance. However, the crux of the problem is not simply losing. It's the fact that many teams have been unfairly and prematurely removed from tournaments. They've had their seasons end due to incorrect rulings, missed scores or botched calls.

I am more than happy with losing if I deserved it. I think we all want our opponents to win, if they truly are better than us. GP means beating your opponent at their best, not winning or losing, because of an error or tragic mistake on someone else's behalf.

[J-Blondie]

I agree that it is terrible to lose in situations like that. However I think GP also means having compassion to try and understand the entire situation whether you're involved or standing at the sidelines. I mean at SVR, I'm sure that the head ref feels terrible about the situation that he had to resolve. But the response to his decision was immediate name calling and blaming him when it was found out later that the information on what call to make came from HQ. It's just something to think about. A lot of refs understand what it's like to be on a team. Those who had to make decisions on the fly and had to do their best and then come home to face such negativity, name calling and general rudeness I'm sure won't be willing to come back next year. It's a bad experience on both sides which is what I'm trying to help people understand.