Canadian supremacy

[Nemo]

Canada succeeds for all of the usual reasons, plus they have Tim Horton's doughnuts, whereas in the U.S. we mostly don't.

[George C]

Thanks for all the kind words and best wishes particularly after our hard dismount. Our thanks to 1114 and 2056 for picking us for the alliance and to 2337 for their great work. Our thanks as well to the IRI organizers. A particularly well run event. Ask nicely and we'll bring you something from Timmy's next year. The way they're expanding there might even be a store in Indy by then.

[Tom Bottiglieri]

I'd love to hear some teams from the Toronto area comment on this. It's pretty clear these teams are improving at a rate which isn't matched by any other locality.

[Walter Deitzler]

Originally Posted by Tom Bottiglieri

I'd love to hear some teams from the Toronto area comment on this. It's pretty clear these teams are improving at a rate which isn't matched by any other locality.

Agreed. I would like to hear from some of these successful Toronto teams. I would think this would NOT be Canada's year, after the Ontario teacher's strike. What is up with this astounding growth?

[mman1506]

Originally Posted by LedLover96

Agreed. I would like to hear from some of these successful Toronto teams. I would think this would NOT be Canada's year, after the Ontario teacher's strike. What is up with this astounding growth?

I've actually heard from a few Toronto teams that the teacher strike actually helped them improve as a team.

[Jim Wilks]

Originally Posted by mman1506

I've actually heard from a few Toronto teams that the teacher strike actually helped them improve as a team.

That is definitely true in our case.

[cad321]

Team 2386 from Burlington, Ontario (about 40 minutes South West of Toronto), although not a powerhouse team such as 1114, 2056 or 610 has most definitely been motivated by the powerhouses. Without these teams we would not be required to work so hard just to be able to qualify for Worlds. These teams make it so that other Ontario teams need to aim to do things that many other teams just don't need to because they don't have powerhouses near them forcing them to do any better. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely teams all over the world that strive towards making the best robot they can to perform best at worlds. That being said, why do more work than you need to if the motivation isn't there.

Also the teachers strike (although making things more challenging) certainly helped motivate us. We were the only extra-curricular running (technically a class but was really an extra-curricular) and needed to not only represent our school but show our peers that robotics was more than a bunch of nerds getting together to do lame, nerdy things. The strike also sent more teachers wanting to continue helping after school to come to our program and mentor. This gave us even more qualified help (on top of the amazing teachings that come from our mentors in industry).

The timmies and maple syrup clearly help as well .

[Pault]

Originally Posted by cad321

Team 2386 from Burlington, Ontario (about 40 minutes South West of Toronto), although not a powerhouse team such as 1114, 2056 or 610 has most definitely been motivated by the powerhouses. Without these teams we would not be required to work so hard just to be able to qualify for Worlds. These teams make it so that other Ontario teams need to aim to do things that many other teams just don't need to because they don't have powerhouses near them forcing them to do any better. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely teams all over the world that strive towards making the best robot they can to perform best at worlds. That being said, why do more work than you need to if the motivation isn't there.

I can definitely see this as a big part of why Canada is so successful. Even though there are other teams out there who strive to be the best, its different in Canada. Why? Because teams build a robot to accomplish their goal for the season, and robot that was built with the goal of making it to elims will tend to turn out different than one with the goal to win on Einstein. For example, nearly every powerhouse team did not settle for a pure cycler. They knew that in order to maximize their chances of winning on Einstein, they needed to do more.* In Canada, because of 1114 and 2056, if you want to win a regional, you are going to have to aim higher than most powerhouse teams. Because of that, they are ending up with more and more teams trying to go above and beyond with floor pickups, 30pt climbs, etc. And the ones who opt to just cycle are going to try their very hardest to create a worthy cycler.

So, thank you to 1114 and 2056. Despite people complaining about how you hog all of the glory to yourself, there were people out there who knew that you were just pushing the rest of Ontario to it's limits. And this year, we can finally see that it worked. Because of you, FRC is a much better competition.

*Someone is going to come at me and say that 3 cyclers won on einstein, but 2 of them had floor pickups, and the finalists only had 1 robot that cycled: 469: arguably the team with the biggest bag of tricks this year.

[cad321]

Originally Posted by Pault

In Canada, because of 1114 and 2056, if you want to win a regional, you are going to have to aim higher than most powerhouse teams. Because of that, they are ending up with more and more teams trying to go above and beyond with floor pickups, 30pt climbs, etc. And the ones who opt to just cycle are going to try their very hardest to create a worthy cycler.

Exactly! This year 2386 bit off more than we could chew by doing almost everything, a 30pt climber, shooter and as always a great defense bot. We did this trying to be equal to or surpass the powerhouse teams. We could have succeeded if VEX had provided us with a critical dimension but that's beside the point.

Between Canada FIRST, amazing powerhouse teams and the WildCards Ontario teams have a great opportunity to go far in competition.

[jamierose]

At the Waterloo regional, I heard from Karthik that zero Canadian FRC teams bought Mecanum wheels this year. Maybe that has something to do with it?

Honestly, though, I think much of Canada's success comes from how much the teams work with each other. For example, 610 worked with teams such as 1241, 907, and 1310 throughout the season to practice and work on the robots. We also held a quick-build on kickoff day with several teams. I know that 1114 and 2056 also work with other teams in some way (or at least that's what I gathered from what Karthik said during the finals at GTR West in 2012). With some very good teams in Ontario and the high level of cooperation, this makes Ontario an example of successful Coopertition®.

[gr8dragon]

The teachers strike was really damaging to FIRST in Canada by removing a lot of veteran teams from regionals. The amazing part about the strike in my opinion though, is the fact that alumni/students/mentors, from teams that couldn't run this season, went on to help other teams. Personally I had the wonderful opportunity to work with team 1241 this year as a result. I think that in this way people have a chance to share how different teams run the season differently and take the best from here and there and put it together to be better overall. I imagine that if these people go back to their original teams next year, then they bring back all of this knowledge and can help their original teams do even better. In line with that is also that in Canada teams are starting to retain more and more alumni as mentors. I think that as a result their respective teams are getting better year after year. The alumni/mentor force is growing in Canada and is something I think that will help every team.

One thing I think that a lot of people may not know about Canadian regionals and teams is that, despite the rivalries all the teams don't forget to help each other out. At championships we cheer for each other, we share parts and we really do work like a community. To avoid sounding cliche, the fact that we can compete so much and compete the right way means that we can truly take the time to appreciate each others skills and be inspired by one another.

I would like to thank 1241 and any other teams that let members of "rival" teams join in their ranks. I am sure everyone else who had the chance had just as amazing an experience as I. It was truly humbling to be accepted into teams and be offered a job and be trusted to do what you do best.

As J -No said in his post big thank you to Canada FIRST for helping teams settle in during the strike period.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by gr8dragon

The teachers strike was really damaging to FIRST in Canada by removing a lot of veteran teams from regionals. The amazing part about the strike in my opinion though, is the fact that alumni/students/mentors, from teams that couldn't run this season, went on to help other teams. Personally I had the wonderful opportunity to work with team 1241 this year as a result. I think that in this way people have a chance to share how different teams run the season differently and take the best from here and there and put it together to be better overall. I imagine that if these people go back to their original teams next year, then they bring back all of this knowledge and can help their original teams do even better. In line with that is also that in Canada teams are starting to retain more and more alumni as mentors. I think that as a result their respective teams are getting better year after year. The alumni/mentor force is growing in Canada and is something I think that will help every team.

One thing I think that a lot of people may not know about Canadian regionals and teams is that, despite the rivalries all the teams don't forget to help each other out. At championships we cheer for each other, we share parts and we really do work like a community. To avoid sounding cliche, the fact that we can compete so much and compete the right way means that we can truly take the time to appreciate each others skills and be inspired by one another.

I would like to thank 1241 and any other teams that let members of "rival" teams join in their ranks. I am sure everyone else who had the chance had just as amazing an experience as I. It was truly humbling to be accepted into teams and be offered a job and be trusted to do what you do best.

As J -No said in his post big thank you to Canada FIRST for helping teams settle in during the strike period.

Aside from 188, what Canadian teams were not able to compete due to the strike? Curious how many were affected to that severity.

[Gabrielle62]

Being a Canadian team has definitely come with a great amount of pride this past year. From expanding FIRST into Alberta with a new regional, to world champions and IRI winners, I think it's safe to say we've all gotten a taste of what it's like to win up here.

As 2994 worked (and continues) to try to expand FIRST in Ottawa this year by starting up some rookie teams. Once we all competed and we were getting ready to hit the road, we asked them what the experience was like, and what they were going to aiming for in the upcoming year. They all agreed they wanted to work to prove themselves, and rise to the level of the "powerhouse" teams they got the chance to see.

So I thank all the "powerhouse" teams like 1114, 2056, 610, and 1241, for inspiring Canada, along with other teams around the world.

[Feroz1325]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Aside from 188, what Canadian teams were not able to compete due to the strike? Curious how many were affected to that severity.

All of these veteran teams from Ontario did not compete in FRC in 2013 but competed in 2012, whether it was due to the teachers strike or other factors I'm not sure.

Teams (total: 16)
188, 843, 919, 1009, 1053, 1219, 1221, 1246, 1404, 1514, 1535, 1605, 1835, 2076, 2198, 3739

[George C]

Originally Posted by Feroz1325

All of these veteran teams from Ontario did not compete in FRC in 2013 but competed in 2012, whether it was due to the teachers strike or other factors I'm not sure.

Teams (total: 16)
188, 843, 919, 1009, 1053, 1219, 1221, 1246, 1404, 1514, 1535, 1605, 1835, 2076, 2198, 3739

We were very fortunate to be able to give a home to 2 Grade 12 students from a team that didn't compete this year although it wasn't because of teachers' withdrawal of voluntary extra curricular services - there was no strike. That team stopped operating in September. One of those students is the lead designer of our very effective climbing system.

This has been our best season to date and yes, it had a lot to do with that job action. When we weren't able to operate at the school, Sheridan College took us in and gave us free use of their excellent shop. 1241 and 1325 also made use of the facility. We went from 1 small CNC mill and one lathe to at least 30 lathes and mills plus CNC equipment. We also went from 7 to 17 active mentors and no teachers were involved. This was because we worked from 5 to 9 plus Saturdays and people who work could get there. Alumni and parents of alumni also helped out. We even saved money because we didn't have to pay caretaker time as is required if want to work in the school on a weekend. The Oakville Yacht Squadron also gave us free use of their (mostly unheated) facility from January to April so that we could set up a pyramid. 1325 used it as well.

Because of shared difficulties many of the Ontario teams have formed stronger inter-team ties. The team mentor system also works to bring teams closer together. In Ontario for the past three years, rookie teams are assigned a mentor team to assist them in their first year. This usually develops into a very strong lasting relationship. The competition is fierce in Ontario. Come check it out next season at one or more of the 4 regionals.