Question: What was the first FIRST competition you attended?

[StephLee]

The first competition I ever went to wasn't one my team competed in; we went to Pittsburgh in 2005 on that Saturday to watch and get an idea of what to expect the next week at Chesapeake. I remember (and will always remember) the overwhelming noise and the feeling of awe when I walked in at the top of the stadium and looked down in the middle of a match. It was incredible.

The first competition I competed in was the following weekend, at Chesapeake. It was an insane amount of fun, and I remember barely needing sleep or rest at all that weekend...until the car ride home.

[Hiteak]

The first one was the last day of the FLR 2005 Regional as a viewer. The FIRST regional that I competed was FLR 2006. It was amazing though being at both. Being right besides the field and meeting new friends along the way was great.

[Not2B]

2002 GLR

First comp ever - I was a mentor for our team. I have vague memories.
- Unpacking and seeing all the other robots and feeling sick...
- Seeing the drill motors pop out of their motor mounts in our first match. Straight up.
- Wondering what just happened.

[Joe J.]

2003 Great Lakes Regional

Our robot broke....a lot. It was a lot of fun though.
The first time our robot got up the ramp with out breaking or falling over, our team went crazy cheering.

[ScoutingNerd175]

Bash at the Beach 2004. Our robot got broken... a lot... really a lot. But I had a wonderful time and I've never looked back. I'm still upset that we didn't go to Bash this year!

[Pavan Dave]

my first FIRST competition was the FLL Competition what i helped out in...my first FRC competition was LSR. this year

-junx

[LightWaves1636]

2005 Colorado Regional would have been my first time to attend a FIRST event but I couldn't in the end because my family wanted to go to Texas. Last year I finally got to join the team(Team 1636 has a pre-requisite in oreder to join). My rookie year, I ended up being the Electronics Head and one of the drivers. The energy rush I felt when my first very first match began was so cool. Match after match I had more and more fun and seeing Gracious Professionaliam in action was very cool. I loved seeing how teams helped out other teams, that was the coolest( and a breath of fresh air because while I was in the marching band, that's another story). It's my senior year and I'm dissappointed I wasn't able to join Team 1636 in it's rookie year(my sophomore year) but I'm a part of it now and become one of the most crucial members. After my last year as a student, I really hope in planning to always volunteer and maybe mentor(depends on my schedule because I'm also helping out students learn about lighting in tech theatre).

[Lifelessimp]

2005 SVR. 192 didn't have a robot that year, but some of us went to the competition anyways. It was pretty cool. I remember seeing 114's swerve drive. It was freaking AWESOME. I think it was in their animation that year, too.

[Ken Loyd]

!998 Moffet Field San Jose, Calif.

WOW! Held in a blimp hanger at JPL. I think it was the first time I saw teams 330 and 254.

1998 EPCOT Nationals

WOW! WOW! Atlanta is nice but the early EPCOT's were fantastic!

Ken

[LindsayKnowlton]

My first FIRST competition wasn't too long ago... my first off-seasonal comp was Kettering Kickoff in 2005, and my first in-season was the Great Lakes Regional in 2006. As you can see, I'm a newbie to the FIRST program, as you can see from my recent rookie year and my lack of time on CD. (Actually, I've been a lurker for at least a year, but that's a different story. )

Though I was a first year senior to my team, I still hope I can mentor teams sometime while in college, and possibly be an advisor to a team when I'm a teacher one day.

I really do miss my team and I wish I had more time on the team, but the year I did have with them was definitely worth it.

[ZeroGAdam]

My first FIRST event was back in 2002 at what was then called J&J Mid Atlantic Regional, which turned into the NJ regional 2 years later. I was only 6 years old at the time and had no prior knowledge to anything related with the program. One day, my dad had talked to a few people at work(Bristol-Myers Squibb) and they talked about this robotics competition which the company sponsored. My dad was really interested in it, and found out how to get involved and mentor a team. Luckily, there was a team in our area, so he got heavily involved. TV shows that I was obsessed with around the time were Battlebots and Robot Wars, so I was thrilled when I heard my dad say something about "robots." Long story short, he'd bring me along to all of the meetings and competitions, and as I became older with the team, I began to understand more and more. We looked for an FLL team in our area, and there were none offered in my school, until about 6th grade, and then I got into the program officially. This exposure led me to go through all three levels of the program, and it also provided a full time hobby and passion for me since I could and still can't be involved with any sports due to a orthopedic condition(completely different story). Sorry to bore you all with these offtopic details, but I thought it was a better way to explain how I was involved at such a young age.
Anyway, that first event was absolutely incredible to me (even though the game was a little bland). I just enjoyed the music, the dancing, and the coolest part, these real live machines doing incredible things. It's something that I'll never forget...

[gracie.]

None other than the lovely Buckeye Regional- probably in 2008 or 2009. Really amazing. I watched some of the matches, but as a 6th/7th grader I was more concerned with collecting buttons.

ALL OF THE BUTTONS.

I wandered the pits - I wonder what people thought of me?

[z_beeblebrox]

2012 Utah Regional!!! Our team made it to the semifinals and won Rookie All-Star.

[Peyton Yeung]

My first FIRST competition was in eighth grade (winter 2008) and it was an FLL district event in Lafayette, IN. We ended up winning the research award and was the last team to qualify for state competition. It was our teams first year and we were ecstatic.

My first FRC event was DC in 2010 and we came in as the undefeated champions of the regional the year before so there was a lot of pressure from some of the older members. We missed all the practice matches so we could put in our new kicker and ended up getting eliminated in the quarter finals. I had so much fun playing ninja on the metro in DC as well as being Andy Baker's assistant for the drive team which prepped me to be on the drive team at our next event.

[EricH]

Can't believe I haven't responded...

My first event was either a pre-ship scrimmage in 1999 or the inaugural Silicon Valley Regional, also in 1999. As I recall, the regional was held at Moffet Field, in the large blimp hanger. Pits on one side, field sorta in the middle... and if I recall correctly, the team social was watching Apollo 13.

As for the preship, I can't remember if it was the SCRRF preship or the Fall Classic. Either way, it was held in a high school gym in 1999.