Is FRC truly competitive?

[thefro526]

This is a question that I often ask myself and some of those close to me in FRC.

Is FRC truly competitive? It's really not a black and white question. The level of competitiveness seems to vary heavily based depending on the region and the teams ideals.

From what I've seen, the highest level of FRC is highly competitive. Teams are constantly striving against one another to be the best, to win, to outplay, or out build their opponents.

Then once you move down a few tiers you'll find teams with a different attitude than those in the top tier. Many of these teams have the attitude of 'we're all winners' as long as they show up with a moving robot. Which, yes they've accomplished the basic goal of the competition (depending on who you ask) but are they really winners? Are they really competitive? Guess it depends on who you ask.