CAGE 09

[DiehardCybercard]

You may or may not have heard of the CAGE Match. CAGE stands for Cards and Goats Exhibition. It is an event held by the cybercards 1529, and the digital goats 829. You can read up about the event at www.thecagematch.com

But info about the event is not what I want to talk about. What I would like is, for the teams who are able to attend, to understand what CAGE is all about.

For veteran members on a team and the returning mentors and coaches, you understand what a regional is like. You may also have experienced the wonders of the Indiana Robotics Invitational.

The big mission behind the CAGE Match is to allow new comers to FIRST and FRC to understand how things work. I know for a fact from personal experience, when I was in 6th grade i attended the Boiler Maker Regional. Coming into the event with no background made it difficult to understand what was going on, and to become engaged.

CAGE Match is a low key easy pace off season competition. We encourage teams to bring anyone who is even the slightest bit interested in robotics, to the event with them. There is no stress or high stakes for CAGE, which makes it the perfect environment for learning about FIRST and FRC.

So as a reminder to all FIRST teams, remember why FIRST is here. With that said, if you are a team who is considering attending the 2009 CAGE Match, please bring as many people as you can. Use this event as a tool to teach and educate your team, family, and friends about robotics.

I am not sure if everyone has the same views as me about the small offseason event that is CAGE Match, but I firmly believe that teams can use it as a tool to encourage robotics to people unfamiliar with it.


Hope to see a lot of faces at the 2009 CAGE Match.

www.thecagematch.com