On Saving Seats

[JosephC]

Theres only 2 exceptions to the seat saving thing I feel.

#1: You want to save 3-4 seats for your drive team for awards. They don't need to be saved the entire competition, just after their last match is played. I can tell you theres nothing more annoying then going through a stressful Eliminations only to find theres no seats for you during awards, at least in my experience.

#2: Lunch Time. I completely understand teams that save their seats during lunch time. I wouldn't want to come back from lunch to find the entire stands filled and no where for the scouters to sit.

[DonRotolo]

Don't get me started. I have been known to remove "saved" signs, and sit in the middle of "saved" seats. I double-dog-dare you to confront me on it...

[who716]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Don't get me started. I have been known to remove "saved" signs, and sit in the middle of "saved" seats. I double-dog-dare you to confront me on it...

Yes! Glad I'm not alone at championships in 2012 the drivers me and another member went to go eat lunch it was a long day already things weren't going great with the robot and there were no seats left In our teams direct area so we took two seats with tags on them neighboring ours and low and behold 5 minutes later two members came back and wanting there seats and said oh we left our stuff there so we gave them there stuff that was under the seat and and the tag in the seat and asked if they wanted to sit next to us but nope those were for other team members so eventually we got up and moved to prevent further confrontation

[FrankJ]

Originally Posted by DonRotolo

Don't get me started. I have been known to remove "saved" signs, and sit in the middle of "saved" seats. I double-dog-dare you to confront me on it...

Boy. I am glad I am not the only one that does that. :0

[loyal]

Well how about stadium chairs? The ones that clip on and have a fold up back. We have a mentor on our team that would use one for his back. Is that not saving a seat if he left it there? Its a tough call.

[E Dawg]

I agree with the above points. I meant seat-saving in the sense that the seat will be empty 90% of the time OR seat-saving overnight.

Otherwise, no problem.

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by E Dawg

I agree with the above points. I meant seat-saving in the sense that the seat will be empty 90% of the time OR seat-saving overnight.

Otherwise, no problem.

Yeah, saving one or four seats isn't the problem, it's saving dozens that irks me.

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by rules

4.14 BLEACHER RULES

Sitting together in a group during competition matches makes the game more exciting and fun. It’s where you can show support for your team. Since very often there is not enough seating to accommodate everyone, there has to be a policy regarding seating.

Teams are not allowed to save seating space.

With this in mind, it is not permitted to hang banners or ribbons to designate such an area. We will remove and discard any banners, roping, etc... Please take turns sitting in the bleachers, if seating is limited. Share the fun. When you see there is a crowding problem, leave after your team's match and return later for another few matches.

If I were a judge (especially for Chairmans award) I would walk through the seating area at the event and eliminate any team that was 'saving' seats, as it is clearly against the rules.

[IronicDeadBird]

I actually would have to say that the only time where saving seats is reasonable is in terms of people with special needs. If I have a seat saved for a family member who has knee problems, then I ask that you respect that. Otherwise instead of having your team sit together tell the ones who are out in the stands to go out and make friends with other teams. Nothing wrong with building communication with other teams. I mean your team benefits so much more from networking with other teams then becoming territorial over a bunch of seats.
Oh man just re read what I said and I feel the flak coming...

[EricH]

Originally Posted by IronicDeadBird

Oh man just re read what I said and I feel the flak coming...

Have a flak jacket.



Incidentally, I prefer the "warm body" method of saving seats: If there's a warm body in the seat, it's saved. If not, it's not (unless they are just off for a quick bathroom break).

[Justin Shelley]

I can sympathize with people saving seats because having your team in one area makes everything nicer and more professional looking then 5 here and there. Plus it makes scouting and making strategy's much easier and creates more of a team atmosphere.

When people save a large amount of seats and then are gone what I typically do is go ahead and sit in them, but when they come back I always graciously return the seats. Now teams that have a problem with other people sitting in "their spot" while they are gone is what is wrong in my opinion.

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by Justin Shelley

I can sympathize with people saving seats because having your team in one area makes everything nicer and more professional looking then 5 here and there. Plus it makes scouting and making strategy's much easier and creates more of a team atmosphere.

When people save a large amount of seats and then are gone what I typically do is go ahead and sit in them, but when they come back I always graciously return the seats. Now teams that have a problem with other people sitting in "their spot" while they are gone is what is wrong in my opinion.

Ahhh, I see. So it's only OK to break the rules when it makes things easier and creates a team atmosphere ... gotcha

[robochick1319]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

If I were a judge (especially for Chairmans award) I would walk through the seating area at the event and eliminate any team that was 'saving' seats, as it is clearly against the rules.

In an ideal world maybe. As of right now that would leave almost no one winning awards. At one point or another, whether it is egregious or not, someone on all of our teams has "saved" a seat or two.


The only way to stop this is if everyone agrees and actually stops doing it. Otherwise you can be the righteous, noble team that does the right thing and ends up watching matches from behind driver stations....

I think another solution to consider is adding more events and ensuring that the venues can actually hold the team capacities they post. Peachtree last year was a NIGHTMARE because every year the number of teams increased but (alas) the number of stands/seats did not. Those are the events where seat saving gets ugly.

[Answer42]

Originally Posted by JosephC

Theres only 2 exceptions to the seat saving thing I feel.

#1: You want to save 3-4 seats for your drive team for awards. They don't need to be saved the entire competition, just after their last match is played. I can tell you theres nothing more annoying then going through a stressful Eliminations only to find theres no seats for you during awards, at least in my experience.

This. Drive team is one of the most stressful positions one can have at a regional. And every drive team I've ever been on, or talked to, always tries 110% to compete at the teams absolute best. And coming back to the team seating area after a long day of competing to find that there's not even space for you to rest your legs is kind of disheartening.

That being said. Saving half the stands for your team is fairly annoying. Especially when you force people to not sit in their area. I always try to respect a teams "area" but at the same time I would expect that any FRC team would make room for people who have nowhere else to sit, If need be.

[Mr. Van]

How about this:

Queue up to go into the venue in the order you arrive. It is absolutely unfair to have one team member line up early and then have a bus load of 70 students, parents and other supporters come up and assume they get to go to the front of the line. Line up to enter the venue in the order you arrive. If you want seats for your team, get your whole team there early.

Do not save seats in the arena. Sit in a group if you like, but do not block of a large section of the stands. If someone comes to sit with you, welcome them.

The primary violators of seat saving are not students or mentors, they are parents. We simply need to get them to understand how we do things. Or at least how we should be doing things.

- Mr. Van
Coach, Robodox