2016 Minnesota State Champs

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Ginger Power

But you'll still get your 10 state qualification points and you'll still take up judges time and energy

The 10 points for a chairman's submission has done amazing things for our state over the past 5 years. Back in the good old days, not too many MN teams submitted Chairman's. I'm afraid I don't have exact numbers, but I know it was single digits at each event when we first started MSHSL. Where I do have exact numbers, though - in 2014, 40 MN teams submitted for Chairman's, out of 186. This year, we're almost DOUBLE that number, out of 208! Sure, some of them may have been thrown together at the last minute just for those 10 points, but for the most part team's are taking note of what Chairman's actually celebrates, and submitting for the award is making them evaluate and improve their programs.

That said, It's certainly open for debate at this point - has that benefit served its purpose enough that we can take it away? Have we created a sufficiently focused culture in the state around the Chairman's award that teams will continue to strive for it in the levels they did this past year, and not just make it "all about the robot"? Tough questions to answer.