Future First Championship News

[alopex_rex]

Originally Posted by AGPapa

What makes champs great isn't the robots, it's the people. It's Karthik's presentation, it's talking to 254's students about their robot, it's a strategy discussion with Kyle Hughes, it's seeing old friends, it's meeting all of the passionate and dedicated students and mentors from all the teams you've seen on livestreams for the past few months.

Something to think about: I would guess at least 90% of FIRST participants don't know who Karthik and Kyle Hughes are, don't know anything about team 254, have no old friends in FRC outside of their area, and don't watch any livestreams. This is certainly true of everyone on my team, which includes many people who are very dedicated to FRC--that is, to building our robot and participating in our competitions. And it's true of the teams that will be able to go to championships now when they wouldn't have before, that is, the teams that this change is intended to help. After a visit to championships, even if it only covers half the country, a student might be inspired to start watching livestreams of events in other regions, or to look out for 254's robot. If they never go, they will probably only ever have a vague awareness of FRC teams out of their region.

Not to be impolite, but many people seem to think that because most people on an internet forum agree with them, their opinion is held unanimously by all FRC teams, and FIRST must reckon with it. It's important to keep in mind that this change is specifically targeted at teams whose voices are unlikely to be heard in this discussion.