Positive Experiences with Dominant Teams

[Chris is me]

If I listed every positive interaction I've had with a dominant team this would be my longest post on Chief Delphi - and I have made way too many long posts. I'll mention a few highlights here - if I left you out, I'm sorry.

1114 - Only positive experiences. A tour of their school in 2010 as well as email correspondence taught me a lot about how a successful FRC program can grow out of a high school. These experiences helped shape what 2791 is today.

In 2010, I went to Atlanta, but then realized I had no idea how to navigate the subway system. Luckily I was on the same train as many 1114 students and parents. They help point me in the right direction to the dome and hotel.

But wait, there's more! At the 2010 IRI, one of the (now former) 2791 mentors volunteered at the event. I talked to him about my positive experiences with 1114 and he didn't quite believe it. I think he had some small grudge against them for some minor interaction years ago; I honestly can't remember. What I do remember is that he then went and had a conversation with some of their parents and mentors about competing in Canada. An hour later, I find him and he looks super excited. He's telling me that we've got to compete in both Waterloo and GTR next year, since Canadian teams like 1114 are so nice. I still wish we ended up doing that!

20 - More of a local powerhouse than a global powerhouse, but 20 has been nothing but incredibly kind to 2791. In the 2010 season, we basically built half our robot in their shop the weekend before ship. At our first regional, they helped us debug part after part, and when our scouting fell apart they gave us their data no questions asked. We used that data from the 5th AC spot to make two good picks - both to the detriment of 20. Excellent gracious professionalism.

The GP has only continued since then. We share a practice field along with the other Albany region teams. Whenever we've needed help with software or finding a random part, members of team 20 are always ready and willing to jump in and help us. In 2013, as 20 switched to a west coast drive, there was open design discussion between the teams to better both our robots. All of this gracious professionalism and collaboration peaked at the 2013 WPI Regional. We scouted the event together, and 2791 ended up as the #1 seed, selecting 20 as the first pick overall. We got within literal inches of our first regional win, and it's all thanks to Shaker's sports rivals down the road in Clifton Park.

I could go on forever talking about how 118, 2168, 176, 229/4124, 610, 177, and 1519 have all been excellent and friendly competitors, but this post would get far too long. Unfortunately we will probably never compete with a lot of them again due to districts.

[JohnSchneider]

Im going to stick up for one of the teams that I feel gets the most flack

148 - This year we had the pleasure of going through eliminations with them for the first time (after palying in quals against each other in 2 nail biters ) and their staff was very respectful. They didn't treat us differently because of our age, and strategized coopertivley with us. They helped get our rookie 2nd pick up to elimination-standard. At worlds we communicated with each other constantly checking in on each other and wishing luck. They're way more approachable than we had thought in years past and really enjoyed working with them this year.

[mschwab013]

I have always had positive experiences with dominant teams. Here are just a few from this year.

987- This year in Archimedes and were paired together and faced with the herculean task of playing against 11 and 20. Some of the mentors from 987 came to talk about strategy for the match. They worked with us and even helped us to modify our blocker so we could defend both 11 and 20 at the same time (which worked surprisingly well the first time). They were gracious about everything and didn't just try to take control because they were the best team on the alliance. Kudos to them. Hopefully we will work together again in future years.

33- This year at champs we had our first qualification match together. They trusted our scouts and student coach for strategy and just like 987 didn't act as though they were above us. We did the strategy together and everything went according to plan. We won the match 127-63. Thank you to 33 for not looking down on us for only scoring in the low goal and trusting us that we could score the 30 points we said we could.

1241- In 2012 we were on an elims alliance together at Buckeye. They were clearly the best offensive team on the alliance, but they did not use this fact to take control. Our entire alliance worked great together and were even able to create a 6 ball passing auto. They worked as a part of the alliance and that is my favorite memory from that year. Such an elite team being treating everyone fairly is just another great thing about FIRST.

[Kathysmith]

3824 & 4265- they were always supportive of our team and treated us as complete equals (even if we weren't). It really meant a lot to our team for two incredible groups of people to be so down to earth and kind.

[AdamHeard]

Before anyone knew who we were, 254 and 330 were always pleasant and helpful with us.

[jwallace15]

At worlds this year I was giving my parents a tour of the pits and we came to 16's pit. I asked if they were busy, but they were having problems with their climber. Despite this, two students took the time to explain to my engineering-illiterate Mother how swerve worked, how they drove their robot, etc. She was very pleased and walked away with a very positive image of Bomb Squad (as did I)!

I've also had very positive experiences with 33!

[Lil' Lavery]

While I don't have the energy to recall an anecdote right now, this thread screams 365. MOE is truly an inspiration and a pleasure to compete with and against every year (though I really wish it was more with and less against).

Also, this story jumps to mind as well (though QF4 only lasted two matches ).

[Kevin Leonard]

This year at championships, I had some free time (I know free time at CMP? ABSURD), so I hung out with some kids from 33 at the base of a swing-set in the hallway outside the Archimedes stands. Much to my surprise, members of one of the best teams in the division were totally down to earth.
That made me realize that students from "Elite" teams were really no different from students anywhere else.
Seems obvious, but at the time I was in a mindset of "DUDE ITS THE KILLER BEES HOLY CRAP THEY'RE REALLY GOOD AND THEIR ROBOT IS SO SLICK AND..."

Tbh, I've never had a bad experience with an "elite" team. They're usually even more gracious and professional than non-elite teams.

That's just my two cents.

[Koko Ed]

Being a lead que I more often than not have positive experiences with top teams ( the only issues I ever have with them is they like alot of space to set up for elims. I just ask them to consolidate sometimes). They are good at showing up for matches and they are always professionals. My issues usually come at the opposite end of the spectrum.

[mlantry]

this year at championships on practice day i had some time so i walked around and came across 16's pit and started a conversation with one of the people there about there swerve drive and their 30 point climber (not on the robot anymore). me and this guy had at least a 25 minute conversation even though everyone was busy working. it was great

[Mrcope9]

Our rookie year (2012) turned out to be one of the greatest learning expiriences we have ever come across. On the first day at the Bayou Regional, an inspector told us our robot was 1/4 inch too big on two sides, which meant we had to cut our robot down and rebuild in in less than two days. BUT, based on some great pit location, we made friends with several older, well respected teams from texas. First team 418: thank you for letting us use your space & tools to test our robot. You all tought us a lot about programming on the fly. Second, team 624: after finding out that our code had been lost, your mentors came & sat in our pit for hours on that miserable Thursday evening. Your spirit and guidence made a world of difference to all of our members. We were trully dissapointed when your team wasn't at the Bayou Regional this year. Lastly, to our friends team 57: i think your years of expirience was the best medicine for a case of bad luck. Thank you for helping us make new bumpers, and for letting us pick your brains on how to make the regional a better place. You all even gave us our first award. It read, "For proving Murphy's Law, team 3991" it was a bit satirical, but we fully cherished it. That small token of your appreciation, plus the big stuffed leopard are still sitting in our lab. We modeled our second season after you, and went from 35th in 2012 to 19th and a tournament spot in 2013. We trully can't wait to compete with you all in the future.

Thanks again to all those teams who brought smiles to our faces at some point!

[OWilliamson]

This year I was in Kansas City for a while, so I contacted 1986 Team Titanium to see if I could visit them. They happily said yes, and I was able to spend 2 whole hours with them. They talked with me about how their team is structured and functions as well as explaining almost every little detail of their last few robots. They were incredibly open about everything and they taught me a ton in the time I was there. I know that my experience with them is going to benefit my team immensely in the coming years, and I couldn't thank them enough.

Plus they gave me a shirt which was awesome

[AluminumNarwhal]

At this year's San Diego Regional my team's robot was almost fully functional. There were some quirks in our shooter that we didn't anticipate. 987, who had a very similar shooting mechanism, spent about a quarter of an hour with us after the regional had concluded and gave us advice about how to stabilize it. Our following regional, we had the highest-scoring robot in our team's history. Thank you 987 for donating your time even in the chaos of the pits closing.

[AmoryG]

125 mentored my team in our rookie season and some of their members helped us out at Championships after we won Rookie All-stars at our regional (thanks in no small part to their mentoring). They host the Beantown Blitz off-season event, volunteer at the Boston Regional (I'm sure they're very helpful at the other regionals they attend), and have probably jump started many other teams besides my own. It's a shame I haven't had more experiences with other dominant teams because I'm sure there a bunch out there that are just as great as 125.

And if you want to hear about positive experiences with dominant teams look no further than members and alumni of dominant teams. I'm sure many of them will tell you what a joy it was to be part of such a great team and how their experiences as members positively shaped their lives and careers.

[LeelandS]

Oh goodness... Well. I got the pleasure to work with 610 for the first time at the 2012 Rah Cha Cha Ruckus. Nick Lawrence, Mr. Lim, and the rest of the team really are an amazing bunch. They are clearly just so excited to be a part of the program.

Um... Let's see here. I got to work with 118 for the first time this past year at Champs. Their coach, Mason (The Man of the Amazing Mustache, for those of you who don't know) and the student drive team and the couple of team members I ran into in their pits are awesome. Mason is an extremely friendly guy, and the students are very open. Even as I praised their robot (something they've undoubtedly heard time and time again), they seemed as though they had heard it for the first time.

I got to work with 233 and 2016 in the elimination rounds of IRI in 2011, that was certainly an honor. Both really cool teams who obviously enjoy the competition.

I don't get to pal around with the 1114 crew as much as I would like (they certainly like to stick North of the border; maybe since Finger Lakes is rumored to be moving away from the earlier weeks of competition, to Week 4 I believe, they will finally make the trip to Rochester), but Karthik is fun to hang around with.

Generally, you'll find most dominant teams to be really friendly. I hypothesize this is true because the foundation of a strong team is getting the students and mentors to really believe in the program. And if you can really get into a program like ours, then you will definitely be excited and having fun at every FIRST event. The closest thing to a bad experience with a powerhouse team I've had is most likely me mistaking their professionalism as grumpiness.