Question: What was the first FIRST competition you attended?

[Steve W]

My first experience was as a spectator. I had volunteered to help at the new Canadian Regional and I had never seen an event before. I went to Cleavland for their first event (I believe). My main objective was to see what they did good/bad to help make our event the best. I was not prepared for what I saw. I left the people I was with to tour the pit area. I was approached by so many students that really were enthused about their robot and team. Kids that were interested in something and wanted to tell me about it. When I exited the pit area an hour or so later I met up with Mark Breadner and the first thing I said to him was that I HAD to join a team. The rest is history. The more I put in, the more I get back. This has been one of my best experiences. This also the reason I say that if you can get Teachers, potential mentors or sponsors to an event then you will have them hooked.

[Jaine Perotti]

My first robotics competition was the 2002 Bash@the Beach.

I was new to the robotics team and knew only one other person on the team at that point. I was overwhelmed by all of the people, and I didn't know a thing about robots, so most of my time was spent standing around wondering what I was supposed to be doing.

I had alot of fun though. It was amazing for me to watch something that I had so little understanding about. I was fascinated by the robot, and wondered what exactly made it work the way it did. I loved to watch the veteran members of the team working on the robot. My most distinct memory was watching Tom, our driver, fix our robot's frame, which was made out of aluminum extrusion and had been skewed out of place in the last match, by whacking it with the hammer.
(the "fine adjustment tool" as he called it )

I also was fascinated by the matches themselves; I had never seen anything like it. The competition as a whole was very exciting to me; the smashing of robots, the oddly dressed and strangely behaved people

I was also the team's operator for one match, which I remember we lost. But being on the drive team for one match gave me a better understanding of how stressful and difficult that job is. The experience augmented my appreciation and admiration of my fellow teammates, mentors, and other FIRSTers.

After Bash was over, I left with feelings of great admiration for my team. I wanted nothing more but to be able to do what they do... and learn. I was inspired to follow in the footsteps of the veterans who came before me.
At my first robotics meeting, one of my teammates said, "Once you go to your first competition... thats when you fall in love with it."


And I did.

[abeD]

2001 KSC....and obviously I was hooked.

[Romeo1351]

My first competition was actually this year's Silicon Valley Regional. Unfortunately, I could only make the last day...but from what I had heard from the higher-ups, the competitions were awesome, and I was really excited to see what it would be like. But I had no idea just how awesome it would be. I even volunteered to be the mascot that time...It was fun, despite being the closest I've ever gotten to passing out (man...that thing's hot). We ended up getting 6th place, and I'll never forget that first experience. I absolutely cannot wait for more.

[GaryVoshol]

I'm glad this thread got revised - it's a fun read.

Would you believe the first FRC tournament I attended was Nationals in Houston in 2003?

But long before that, I attended an FLL tournament at Brewster Elementary School in Rochester, MI in November 2000. My daughter's team, the Dragon Devils, made its debut there in Volcanic Panic. And lo and behold, they managed to qualify for the State tournament. 16 tournaments later, the team retired and several of the girls joined FRC team 1188.

Oh, and the reason we were in Houston? The Dragon Devils were competing in the FLL championships, and took 3rd place Directors Award.

[DevilChild]

My first FIRST competition was this year... Wow, it's only been a year. Technically, my first competition was an local off-season called Duel on the Delaware, but that one didn't go very well. There were very few senior members to show us the ropes, so us freshmen just kind of sat around and didn't understand what all the weird pyramids were for. So I will tell you about my second competition, and first true FIRST experience. It was Ramp Riot, another off-season competition. This time, I understood what was going on with the games. Not only that, but there were more members up in the stands that... forcefully... convinced us that cheering was a good thing. At least, they convinced me and some of my friends. Where before there was boredom and lack of understanding, suddenly I saw why competitions would be fun. Not to sound corny or anything, but it brought a side out of me that I used to never show people in public. I danced, cheered, screamed, and had a blast. I could barely talk afterwards, and I was very sore from all the dancing, but I had made some great friends and helped win us the Spirit Award. Ever since, the fire has been lit, and I've loved FIRST and all it stands for.

[anna~marie]

Great Lakes Regional in 1999 (I think... either that or 1998)
It was pretty awesome... still remember it... still have buttons from back then

wOOt for old threads!

[Donut]

The first competition I ever saw was the Arizona Regional in 2003. Our family was good friends with the family of one of the members, and he had been telling me about it and getting me all excited about it, so we came down to see him. I only came for part of Saturday though, so while I finally I got to see these big robots and all these crazy dancing people wearing costumes (I distinctly remember team Cryptonite and 64's Gila Dance there), it didn't prepare me at all for what attending a full regional would be like next year.

2004's Regional was my first true experience since I was there the whole time. We managed to make it to the finals and lose in two to 330's alliance, but we got Sportsmanship, an invitation to Nats, and an award from team 60 (who we all looked up to), so I just loved the whole thing. Ever since coming that close I've wanted to push our robots further and shoot for more.

FIRST competitions are just amazing. I can see why some people would be lost to alot of what is going on if they only come for part of one day, but I honestly think you'd have to walk around with a blindfold and earplugs to be there for a whole competition and not get hooked.

[Pat McCarthy]

My first was the 2003 Great Lakes Regional. It was pretty awesome to have my team win the first competition I ever attended. My only experience before that was of OCCRA competitions the previous fall (2002). No comparison.

[JaneYoung]

My first competition experience with FIRST was the Lone Star Regional in Houston. I'd like to back up to the Kick Off. We traveled to Houston to watch it along with other teams from the surrounding area. The travel with the team was great and the Kick Off was inspiring. I wondered what we were about to do. Then build, then competition. The whole process was one eye opening experience after another. At LSR I loved everything from the teams' spirit to the competition itself. But, my heart was in the pits. I loved the pit area. It was so awe inspiring and fun watching the teams work together on the robots and also how they worked with each other. I loved the volunteers and the staff and their enthusiasm and support. And I could dance in the stands like nobody was watching - because they weren't, they were all dancing too! That was the year I went through the stands with pen and paper and wrote down everyone's email address and information and we formed the Parents' Association to help support the team. We've never looked back since - only forward. It's the hardest fun we've ever had.

[Lisa Perez]

Mine was Buckeye 2003 or GLR 2003, I can't really remember which came first. Feels like so long ago...

It was an eye-opening experience, seeing all the spirit and work involved with the competition. Although I can't remember so much about the actual competition. As a rookie, I was *completely* thrilled to be on the pit team, so I hardly left our 10x10 square...

[Gabe]

I went to the 2004 competition in San Jose. At the time I wasn't aware that that this competition was as large. All I could think of was, "That's really cool." I hadn't ever heard of FIRST. It wasn't until two year later when I joined my high school team that I realized what I had seen, and this made it all the more exciting.

[Alexa Stott]

My first official FIRST competition was the New Jersey Regional this year. It was such an amazing experience, and I met some cool people and had tons of fun. My first unofficial FIRST competition, however, was Duel on the Delaware in 2005. I'm so glad that I attended off seasons, because it helped me to get used to the way an event works and the way everything is run, from our pit schedule to alliance pairings. Also, since we don't do much scouting at off-seasons, some of the veteran members were able to take some time to explain everything that was going on, as opposed to an actual competition where everyone is super busy with their list of things to do.

[Freddy Schurr]

My first robotics competition was the Philadelphia Regional back in 2004.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

My first competition experience with FIRST was the Lone Star Regional in Houston. I'd like to back up to the Kick Off. We traveled to Houston to watch it along with other teams from the surrounding area. The travel with the team was great and the Kick Off was inspiring. I wondered what we were about to do. Then build, then competition. The whole process was one eye opening experience after another. At LSR I loved everything from the teams' spirit to the competition itself. But, my heart was in the pits. I loved the pit area. It was so awe inspiring and fun watching the teams work together on the robots and also how they worked with each other. I loved the volunteers and the staff and their enthusiasm and support. And I could dance in the stands like nobody was watching - because they weren't, they were all dancing too! That was the year I went through the stands with pen and paper and wrote down everyone's email address and information and we formed the Parents' Association to help support the team. We've never looked back since - only forward. It's the hardest fun we've ever had.

I've been thinking about this thread since it's been 'resurrected'. I knew I had made a post and searched for it to see if it had said everything I was thinking at the time. It did. But... now, I'm thinking about another aspect of that first experience that I respected but didn't fully understand at the the time. The importance of volunteering at the competition event.

I didn't understand that the majority of the people wearing the volunteer shirts came from teams like mine and from interested members of the community. I thought they magically appeared for a few days to help celebrate the event. Around 2006, I decided to begin volunteering for events and one of the first ones was the Florida Regional. It was because 1902's Wendy Austin invited me to come to the regional and I realized that I could also volunteer while I was there. That opened the door to the wonderful world of volunteering to me. From there, I realized that I could volunteer at off-seasons and that I could volunteer at my home regional, too. From there, I realized that I could volunteer for FTC and FLL events, too. Somewhere in there, I realized that I could volunteer at the Championship event. It was when I was fully involved in discovering the opportunities that volunteering at FIRST events and off-seasons provide - that I really felt like I was helping to strengthen the program and to understand a bigger part of the picture.

The program is continuing to grow and competition events are springing up around us, in need of volunteers. Without the volunteers, the events can't happen. Without the events, the teams can't reach their potential. Without teams reaching potential, regions struggle.

This is where I am in my thinking 10 years after attending my first FIRST event. I celebrate that experience and I celebrate it in the way I expressed in my first post in this thread. But.. I've grown in the time since this thread was initially created and since 2006. I blame it all on Wendy Austin.

Jane