[FRC Blog] We're Listening

[BrennanB]

Originally Posted by ScourgeDragon

The one thing I keep wondering is: Why does a team have to compete at Championships to be inspired at Championships? This is FIRST's logic and I think it's wrong.

(Only views on myself, not my team or it's members)

This. You don't need to make world championships blah for a non-existent problem of %age of teams qualifying. (As seen with FLL who has almost tripled in size since 2007, and has seen a 0% increase in championship spots in the last 9 years.) FLL is doing fine. That being said, their qualification needs to be fixed.

For me it's not about non-elite teams making it to worlds, and it never will be. Sure we have all been there with those perhaps, less sophisticated robots on the field. Quite honestly qualifying for worlds gives them a huge inspiration boost that can lead to greater success in the future. Why are they inspired to up their game? Because they just had a taste of the best teams in the world. Splitting champs makes this untrue, it's just "some of the teams" which I believe strongly that if you asked most of those teams in that linked post that were so incredibly inspired and changed, the wins, the actual getting to the event is cheapened. These teams were excited and inspired because they got to play with the best of the best. Not the sorta-kinda best of the best.

Not having the entire world compete at one event make me sad. It's not about the two winners playing it off. It's about championships atmosphere which can't be replicated anywhere else. That feel will be forever lost. Not to say that qualifying for one of the champs events won't be inspiring... It's just not even close to as inspiring as it would have been.

Originally Posted by Kevin Sevcik

I'm curious what percentage of the 400/600 teams at Champs you people actually interact with. I know when I'm there, the vast majority of teams I interact with are in my Division. How likely is it you'll even notice on a day-to-day basis that you're at a Champs with only half the world there?

For me it's once again, the atmosphere. Talk to a random team, figure out they are from the other side of the continent. It's a place where the entire community comes together.

You know what! Lets just make the Olympics two events! Nobody will notice that half the world is missing! We can make more athletes dreams a reality! Everyone will be happy! Plenty of cities want to host! North America, you never get to play Asia, have fun!

No. It completely destroys what makes it special.