Must Read - Seriously, You'll love it.

[rick.oliver]

Please, do yourself a huge favor and read this blog post, especially if you coach or mentor a team.

http://leadwithastory.com/top-10-dif...-and-robotics/

This was written by one of our parents who attended CIR this past weekend.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by rick.oliver

Please, do yourself a huge favor and read this blog post, especially if you coach or mentor a team.

http://leadwithastory.com/top-10-dif...-and-robotics/

This was written by one of our parents who attended CIR this past weekend.

The more involved he gets with robotics the more he'll realize the diffrences aren't all that wide.

[Jaywalker1711]

Thanks for sharing, that's great!

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

The more involved he gets with robotics the more he'll realize the diffrences aren't all that wide.

That may be true to some extent, but we must guard against the pressures of sports entering our community. If we see behavior that is not what we think belongs, we must speak out.

[Boltman]

Had to chuckle at no brain injuries...yet team's HS insisted I pass online concussion training to be an "official" robot mentor of the district.

[Carolyn_Grace]

Originally Posted by Boltman

Had to chuckle at no brain injuries...yet team's HS insisted I pass online concussion training to be an "official" robot mentor of the district.

Well, during Aerial Ascent, there were plenty of volunteers wearing helmets field-side to prevent concussions from frisbees flying at 60+ mph. haha

[MamaSpoldi]

This is a GREAT article from the perspective of a parent at an event for the first time. I truly appreciate that they see what we are trying to do. I have been sending this link to everyone! It is awesome.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by Carolyn_Grace

Well, during Aerial Ascent, there were plenty of volunteers wearing helmets field-side to prevent concussions from frisbees flying at 60+ mph. haha

Paul Copioli's son Gio nearly got his head taken off by a ball that caught him off guard working field reset. Fortunately he has very quick reflexes and snagged the ball just before it hit him. Another volunteer working nearby significantly injured his fingers catching a ball (He may have broken them. They swelled up pretty good. It didn't help that after getting his fingers bent back by the ball he tried to catch the next ball coming in the goal right after it and aggravated the injury). 2013 was really a bad year for volunteer injuries. Those frisbees were brutal!

[rick.oliver]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

The more involved he gets with robotics the more he'll realize the diffrences aren't all that wide.

I think that the ten specific differences he identified are real; and I think that until the culture changes, the gap will remain, if not increase.

That assumes that we guard the culture of our FIRST community and do not allow it to drift towards the closing of those gaps and continue to strive to live the values of Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition.

I am not at all disparaging sports; I am also a big fan. I also recognize that there are great coaches and programs in the world of sports which exemplify similar values.

The culture of the fan base is the target and I do not see the professional sports organizations adopting a focus on changing the culture of their fan base.

For me, this is an example of FIRST fulfilling its stated objective and perhaps a few of the readers will be influenced.

I shared it with this community so that we all could celebrate the success of having influenced the culture.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by rick.oliver

The culture of the fan base is the target and I do not see the professional sports organizations adopting a focus on changing the culture of their fan base.

.

There are some pretty awful things fans do at sport (mainly due to drinking and the arrogant assumption of entitlement because they paid for a ticket) but the teams are caught between a rock and a hard place. Unless it's an outright blatant act they would be going after paying customers which could hurt their bottom line (after all they are businesses).
When I usually see "fan culture" it's usually aggressive parent saving seats for their kid's team more often then not.
I think that the alliance model is what sets FIRST apart. It not only makes you work with against other teams but teaches you to negotiate, strategize and take interest in the well being of other teams at the event. Outside of multi car race teams I can't really think of anything else in sports that comes close to what FIRST does at the competitions. I think it's one of the coolest things FIRST does.

[Alyssa]

This is so true. Thank you for sharing.

[Caleb Sykes]

Originally Posted by Boltman

Had to chuckle at no brain injuries...yet team's HS insisted I pass online concussion training to be an "official" robot mentor of the district.

On the topic of brain injuries: Galileo 2014 Q3

Actually, I just wanted an excuse to watch that again.

[wilsonmw04]

or this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnE0j69_gYk

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by wilsonmw04

or this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnE0j69_gYk

The 1610 bot to 2363 HP is hilarious because the robot turns, and you imagine him thinking "hmm, that's differe-BAM". On the other hand if I'm on 1519 I could win every major award in the book and the most vivid memory of my time in FIRST would be the time we beamed the founder of the program straight in the nose.

[notmattlythgoe]

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

The 1610 bot to 2363 HP is hilarious because the robot turns, and you imagine him thinking "hmm, that's differe-BAM". On the other hand if I'm on 1519 I could win every major award in the book and the most vivid memory of my time in FIRST would be the time we beamed the founder of the program straight in the nose.

We watched that every morning on the way to the arena last year and laughed every time. The best part of the video is the fact they hand him the ball and he has to feed it back into the robot that just beamed him with it.