Where's the Gracious Professionalism?

[J-Blondie]

Alright, so Week 6 has come to an end and World Championships are fast approaching. There are still some regional/district champ competitions left to finish up before them as well. I figured I would make this post now seeing as it has been a big problem since competition began and I keep seeing more of it.

This year, the FRC community was handed a difficult game. It's a game with no endgame that is heavily based on cooperation between alliance partners. That cooperation need even went into many teams designs in order to gain the most possible points per match. It was obvious from the beginning that the game itself was going to be confusing, and that referees and other regional volunteers would have their work cut out for them each week as they faced a game which could be decided on fouls and technical fouls. A lot of people have even said that this is their least favorite FRC season, and I can understand that. It has been a rocky road for a lot of teams and there have been issues and problems that could have probably been fixed in the moment had people taken the time to fix things. But in FRC, especially at competition, not everything can be fixed between matches. I am sure the refs have tried their best this season. There are plenty of referees that are veteran volunteers and understand the importance of making good calls and quickly getting results to teams. There are also plenty of new people who had their first refereeing experience with this game and who had a challenge doing that job because of the game design. Many teams, my team included, may not have gotten the best calls sometimes. And yes sometimes it may have decided a match or two. Even though that is unfortunate, and everyone seems to want to play a blame game now, I think we all need to remember a few things.

FIRST was NOT established to be a competition based on winning. It was established to give kid of all ages a way to learn about science and technology and how it could lead them into careers that would pay off for themselves and their greater communities, countries and the world. I have been a part of FRC for 8 years and I have been in FIRST for 11 years. I have seen plenty of teams get upset about losing, or about bad calls over the years, but this year has been overwhelming with the lack of compassion I have seen and the lack of gracious professionalism. I have only worked with two different FRC teams, and the experience was great. I may not have the fame or experiences that other people have who regularly post here, but I have always been someone who needs to say something when I see big problems arise.

I think it's great to win a regional, I've been there once. I think it's great to see your team perform well and earn that championship trip via a working robot. Let's be honest here. Only 3 teams out of usually a 50 team average are going to win the regional. We all know that going in. Usually, only 3 teams become World Champions. According to the stats that FIRST gives us, there are 2,720 FRC teams total. Each one of those teams, each one of those 68,000 team members and the countless mentors all start off each season with a hope, a simple dream. We all want to win a regional, and then go on to win the world championship, but the truth is, it's not in the odds for most teams. It may be a harsh reality to face but it's true. As a mentor, I don't focus on the need to win. I focus on what the students are going to carry on throughout their lives and what will inspire them to choose a promising career that they feel confident about. I focus on helping them build memories that they will remember most about the program. As great as it would be for them to have the memory of winning, I could really care less about that.

Another thing I should touch on is that I understand that it's an expensive program and that sometimes, it's way easier to get sponsors if you have won a prestigious award, or a regional or of course the world championship. My team is a self-admitted poor team. We would love to win some awards or the regional, but we accept that it's not in the cards sometimes. I know a lot of teams and I know a lot of great mentors who do wonderful things for their students, and I'm not blaming anyone for the lack of GP this year, but I know there has been a turn in FIRST where winning has taken a precedent and has become for many what it's all about. Let's turn back from that path now while we can. All I ask is that we remember what it's about, and forget the hardships that we've had this season with the game, referees and everything else. A new season will be upon us again in 8 months. Enjoy the time whether you're going to the world championship or not. Use it to become closer with your team members over something not centered on robots. Team members can be an amazing source of lifetime friendship and fun! Especially in the off-season when the pressure is off!

I got to meet two people between last year's world championship and week one regionals this year. I got to meet Dave Lavery and I got to meet Woodie Flowers. Both of them have an awesome presence in the FIRST community and both are people who I look up to in one way or another. Meeting both of these people was just like meeting someone on my level, even though they are both well known, popular people. Both experiences helped me realize that what I love about FIRST is the people, and the attitude that we are all here for the purpose of inspiring the future generations. It's part of why I write this post, because I want more people to be like them, and to remember why we do this year after year, running off pizza and Mountain Dew and the excitement that the season brings. I won't be at world championships this year, but I hope that the gathering of so many great students and mentors has a little bit more gracious professionalism as the season draws to a close.

I also ask that any complaints to specific situations or events remain in the other threads that are discussing the problems with the game and season as opposed to this one. You can however share some awesome things you experienced this season here, because I think this season needs a little more sharing of the good things to show people that it wasn't all that bad in the scheme of things.