Are all girl FIRST team counterproductive to the philosophy of FIRST?

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by N7UJJ

“I know some schools have Varsity and Junior Varsity robotics teams for exactly this purpose, and that's great.” If this is a proposal for an all boys/ all girls team it will result with the girls in the JV team, which is a “lesser” team. Guess which team gets the greater resources and opportunities.

Please re-read my post and the post I was replying to - that wasn't what I was suggesting at all. The post I was replying to was suggesting that, rather than having an all girls team and an all boys team, there should be a team for those with experience and dedication, and a team for those just getting started. That's the role Varsity and JV teams fill for those schools fortunate enough to have the interest and funding for two teams. The JV team acts as a learning area, a chance for new students to gain skills. The Varsity team assumes students already are knowledgeable and have the skills needed to succeed. That part of my statement wasn't about boys versus girls - It's about how schools and teams can create an atmosphere of learning and appropriately bring all students up to speed.

I thought I had clearly separated that portion from the concept of what all girls teams bring to the table. It wasn't about putting the all girls team on the backburner as a JV team - it's about bringing them into the spotlight. Ask anyone in Minnesota about the Robettes, and there's two things you'll hear: They're an all girls team, and they have consistently built great robots that have earned them finalist medals every year at 10,000 Lakes. We aren't a secondary team. We aren't a JV where you can shove girls who don't know how to use power tools. We're one of the premier teams in Minnesota and proof that, in this arena, girls can do just as well as boys.