[FTC]: 128 Teams in 2013 FTC World Championship

[Scott_4140]

Originally Posted by Wing

FRC is the largest vehicle for culture change

Let’s look at this for a minute. Why is FRC the larger vehicle for culture change? Is it the size of the robots? Possibly, FRC started out 20 years ago with robots about the size of FTC robots. Is it the field size? Again FRC started out with a field about the size of FTC’s current field. Is it 2-on-2 vs. 3-on-3? I think these are all contributing factors, but not the key. I think action is the key. FRC matches tend to have a lot more movement and action. The technical aspects of the challenges are probably equivalent between FTC and FRC, but from a fan perspective, everything seems to move much slower in an FTC match. I think expanding the field to 16x16 and developing games that are more fan friendly, can quickly change perceptions.

Fans are the key to FIRST culture change. Just an estimate on my part, but 95% of people attending FIRST events are friends and family of the participants. The excitement hasn’t translated to school or community spirit that draws crowds on its own. Until FIRST can figure out how to get crowds to attend FIRST events the way they attend Sporting events, changing the culture is going to be an uphill battle.