Time for a Scouting Award--Eagle Scout???

[Citrus Dad]

Originally Posted by Pault

I like the concept, and I think it could have a lot of great benefits, but I am hesitant to create an award for something so specefic that not all teams do. I would not put a high enough priority on this award to bring in judges spefically devoted to it. In addition, I agree with a lot of the other points which other people in this thread have made about the problems of implementation.

But I could see a more generalized award, I.e. The strategy award. Obviously, scouting would be a huge part of this, but not everything. The way a team approaches match strategy would be taken into account, a good strategy/ versatility in strategy that you built your robot around could be recognized, or it could recognize some of the uncommon things like 1678's efforts to get all their alliance partners to be able to assist. This would make it easier for a regular judge to understand, and could recognize a lot of great things, while still pointing out and celebrating the importance of good scouting.

A lot of teams don't pursue "team spirit" explicitly either, but there's an award for that. I think the point is to encourage teams to try scouting. It really is part of the game, and it can broaden the appeal to more students who may be STEM oriented but not so interested in mechanical/electrical/programming (e.g., economics, finance and marketing).

I like the idea of broadening it to a "strategy" award. That may be better at encompassing the entire scope of what scouting is intended to produce. I think creating a strategy award could get the judges into the stands to see the range of scouting systems, and those systems might win a Creativity Award.