Future First Championship News

[Joe G.]

Winning, the experience of winning, isn't crucial. If it was, the only teams who would have any ground to be disappointed in the changes would be the actual winners of the north and south championship events

Winning, the objective, the thing you can point to and say "See that? We want to do that. What can we do to make our program better, to improve our chances at that?" is what has grown FIRST from 28 teams in a high school gym to where it is today. As a result, every team which uses it to drive them forward has a right to be upset. It's a proven motivator, and we should do our best to preserve it as a part of our program.

[Connor Mulkey]

The top-tier teams got to that level because they cared about winning the competition, and they strived to make themselves better in order to achieve that goal. If you look at the top teams in FRC and think, "Man, I want our team to be like that some day," then you better start caring about winning.

That competitive spirit is the single best kickstarter in making your team better, and it's why I believe so strongly in the integrity of this program's competition. The decision to split the championship in two compromises that integrity. It's detrimental to the success of the program, and that's why you've seen this magnitude of backlash here in this thread.