Question: What was the first FIRST competition you attended?

[Peyton Yeung]

My first FIRST competition was in eighth grade (winter 2008) and it was an FLL district event in Lafayette, IN. We ended up winning the research award and was the last team to qualify for state competition. It was our teams first year and we were ecstatic.

My first FRC event was DC in 2010 and we came in as the undefeated champions of the regional the year before so there was a lot of pressure from some of the older members. We missed all the practice matches so we could put in our new kicker and ended up getting eliminated in the quarter finals. I had so much fun playing ninja on the metro in DC as well as being Andy Baker's assistant for the drive team which prepped me to be on the drive team at our next event.

[ChristopherSD]

The one in Ypsilanti in '06 (Great Lakes Regional?). It was neat. Saw the team that I would later join for the first time.

[JonathanZur1836]

The first competition that I attended was overdrive in 2008, I was in 7th grade. I was astounded by the amount of work put into each robot, and I loved the amount spirit in each pit. This was the year my team took on our knight theme, and so we built a gigantic wooden castle in our pit area. I joined the team as a freshman and looking back, that was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made

[AlexD744]

My first FRC event was a pretty cool one, however, I didn't realize it at the time.

It was Mission Mayhem 2008, I was a freshman and didn't really know too much. Somehow the co-ordinators of this event managed to get Woodie Flowers and all of the previous WFA winners to stop by! It was really cool, looking back that is...

Unfortunately for me, I had no idea who Woodie Flowers was, nor what the Woodie Flowers award was, so therefore, I missed out on a great opportunity. Nevertheless, it's a really cool story

[Boydean]

10 years old, FIRST Frenzy, Palmetto Regional.

Life has never been the same.

[jspatz1]

2007 St. Louis Regional. We were a new, small rookie team with little idea of what we were doing, and knew nothing about other FRC teams. There were some other teams there with some very funny names like Robowranglers, Thunder Chickens, Winnovation, Technokats, and Swart Dogs. Who were these teams and how good could they be with such goofy names? We learned.

[EricLeifermann]

First event was the Motorola Midwest regional in 2002, my freshman year of high school. I was sick and I mean sick, I spent the better part of 3 hours one day lying on the floor in the pits staring at the ceiling trying not to vomit or pass out from my fever. One match stands out when I think back to that event. My team at the time, 93, had to face Beatty 71 (those of you who don't know their bot from that year look it up, it lived up to their name of BEAST.). The pit crew had spent the entire time from our previous match in the pits changing out the gears in our gearbox to get faster and try and beat 71 to the goals in the middle of the field. Needles to say 3 second into the match their was a huge collision with us(93), the middle goal, and 71. 71 ended up getting stuck on the center goal and was unable to move the rest of the match. The roar of the crowd when this happened is something I have yet to hear again since. It was the most fun I've ever had at an event, even better than the ones I've won and wasn't sick at.

[RoboMom]

2002 NJ Regional in the hot old gym.

I was along as a parent chaperone.
The team won. My hearing and voice were shot for at least a day.

I had no clue what was coming.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

My first competition experience with FIRST was the Lone Star Regional in Houston. I'd like to back up to the Kick Off. We traveled to Houston to watch it along with other teams from the surrounding area. The travel with the team was great and the Kick Off was inspiring. I wondered what we were about to do. Then build, then competition. The whole process was one eye opening experience after another. At LSR I loved everything from the teams' spirit to the competition itself. But, my heart was in the pits. I loved the pit area. It was so awe inspiring and fun watching the teams work together on the robots and also how they worked with each other. I loved the volunteers and the staff and their enthusiasm and support. And I could dance in the stands like nobody was watching - because they weren't, they were all dancing too! That was the year I went through the stands with pen and paper and wrote down everyone's email address and information and we formed the Parents' Association to help support the team. We've never looked back since - only forward. It's the hardest fun we've ever had.

I've been thinking about this thread since it's been 'resurrected'. I knew I had made a post and searched for it to see if it had said everything I was thinking at the time. It did. But... now, I'm thinking about another aspect of that first experience that I respected but didn't fully understand at the the time. The importance of volunteering at the competition event.

I didn't understand that the majority of the people wearing the volunteer shirts came from teams like mine and from interested members of the community. I thought they magically appeared for a few days to help celebrate the event. Around 2006, I decided to begin volunteering for events and one of the first ones was the Florida Regional. It was because 1902's Wendy Austin invited me to come to the regional and I realized that I could also volunteer while I was there. That opened the door to the wonderful world of volunteering to me. From there, I realized that I could volunteer at off-seasons and that I could volunteer at my home regional, too. From there, I realized that I could volunteer for FTC and FLL events, too. Somewhere in there, I realized that I could volunteer at the Championship event. It was when I was fully involved in discovering the opportunities that volunteering at FIRST events and off-seasons provide - that I really felt like I was helping to strengthen the program and to understand a bigger part of the picture.

The program is continuing to grow and competition events are springing up around us, in need of volunteers. Without the volunteers, the events can't happen. Without the events, the teams can't reach their potential. Without teams reaching potential, regions struggle.

This is where I am in my thinking 10 years after attending my first FIRST event. I celebrate that experience and I celebrate it in the way I expressed in my first post in this thread. But.. I've grown in the time since this thread was initially created and since 2006. I blame it all on Wendy Austin.

Jane

[IndySam]

The first Boilermaker Regional in 2005. I had joined the team because my son wanted to join. I really had no idea what this whole thing was about until that event. Our bot was truly awful but after attending this event I knew it was a fundamentally good design that could have been so much better than it was.

I vowed to never let that happen again and I have been hooked ever since.

[Nemo]

My first regional as the new coach gave me a pretty abrupt picture of just how good some teams are. 2009 St. Louis regional, first qualifier match: allies with Team 71. Wow! Second qualifier match, facing Team 16. Wow! Seeing teams like that really makes an impression when you're new at this.

[Jay O'Donnell]

The first event that I attended was the 2010 Granite State Regional. The PVC Pirates were part of the alliance that ended up winning the whole thing. I joined the Pirates this year as a freshman and I'm so glad that I did. Watching how the team has changed from then to now is surreal to me. Other than that, the first event I watched was a video feed from the 2008 Granite state regional.

[EricH]

Can't believe I haven't responded...

My first event was either a pre-ship scrimmage in 1999 or the inaugural Silicon Valley Regional, also in 1999. As I recall, the regional was held at Moffet Field, in the large blimp hanger. Pits on one side, field sorta in the middle... and if I recall correctly, the team social was watching Apollo 13.

As for the preship, I can't remember if it was the SCRRF preship or the Fall Classic. Either way, it was held in a high school gym in 1999.

[Brandon Zalinsky]

My first competition was probably the first ever Granite State Regional in 2003. My mom figured I'd be interested, since I had shown an interest in science and space for quite a while, and I just fell in love with it. 2003 was also the year that my team started, and since I joined in 2010, it has been a life-changing experience, with great friends and amazing times along the way.

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by Flak-Bait

My first competition was probably the first ever Granite State Regional in 2003. My mom figured I'd be interested, since I had shown an interest in science and space for quite a while, and I just fell in love with it. 2003 was also the year that my team started, and since I joined in 2010, it has been a life-changing experience, with great friends and amazing times along the way.

Brandon, that was my first FIRST event too! That was back when I was a 1058 mega fan!