Question: What was the first FIRST competition you attended?

[Pat Fairbank]

My FIRST competition was the 2002 Canadian Regional...

I was actually recruited to the team in 2001, as an animator, but since I was underage (high school is from grades 7-11 here in Quebec) I never even saw the robot, let alone went to a competition.

The next year, since I was a very dedicated member of the animation team, I got to go to the first ever Canadian regional. I remember thinking to myself that since I didn't do any work with the robotics team proper I wouldn't find it very exciting and would have nothing to do. I was wrong.

I was handed a video camera and told to film a few matches. I ended up filming about 7 hours of the most exciting stuff I had ever seen. Our team didn't do very well in the regional, due to the fact that we spent most of our time getting the robot to a working state. But I still had a great time, and watching an all American alliance being defeated by an all Canadian alliance in the finals left me with a sense of victory nonetheless.

That regional gave me the feeling of wanting to make a difference within my team, and as a result the next year, 2003, I threw myself with a passion into the aspects other than animation, and I became the programmer, the wiring expert, and the driver.

[patrickrd]

My first FIRST competition was the 1999 Philidelphia regional. I barely remember it... But I do remember the venue was very large, and I remember Chief Delphi being there. I also remember the team party. All in all it was a lot of fun so I ended up going to the rest of our competitions that year and the next year became very involved.

Patrick

[KyleGilbert45]

My first competition was the 2000 Great Lakes Regional. I don't really remember much and don't even remember where we placed. I just remember that it was one of the most exciting events I had ever participated in and I was hooked from there.

[Kyle Love]

My first FIRST event was Great Lakes Regional this year. For those of you who didn't hear, our wrist fell flat off so it wasn't my favorite of the year. My second was the Midwest Regional, we won so that is my favorite.

-kyle

[Karthik]

1998 Great Lakes Regional.

I was a senior in High School and a member of the first ever Canadian team in FIRST, Team 188. Back in the day, your team didn't actually have to compete in a regional competition. So our only event of the season was the National Championship at EPCOT center. It was our spring break, so a few of decided to drive down to Michigan to do some scouting. We braved a huge snow and ice storm to get there. It was quite the ordeal.

I was shocked by the quality of the teams and magnitude of the event. Having no experience with FIRST, I was picturing robots at level more comparable to a science fair. Boy was I wrong. I was awestruck by the engineering excellence displayed by the team, especially 111 and 47 (when I fell in love with crab drive). Seeing the energy displayed by all the fans, the music and the general "Super Bowl" like field, well I was hooked.

The other thing that really struck me, was how friendly everyone was. I'd never been to such a large competition of any kind, where teams were actually helping their opponents. It was a wonderful thing to see.

There really is nothing quite like your first FIRST competition. As much as people describe it, they can't capture all the little things that come together to make it so unique.

[EddieMcD]

My first FIRST competition was the very first FLL event held in Plymouth, Mass. way back in the fall of 1998. Experience: well, there were only about 15 teams of about four students each (this was the year before its inaugural year when they were testing the whole FLL concept), but the place was packed with parents, family, and whatnot (keep in mind this was when I was in the eigth grade and we needed parents to drive). It was quite loud. The game that year was a small mazeish like field were there were three routes, and you could take the short route with the hazard of falling off, the medium route with the hazard of being caught agaist some 1/4" bamboo sticks around the edge of a circular turn, or the long route, where the only hazard was leaving the field if you weren't straight (and it was longer). My team did okay, but didn't make the playoffs. Oh, and I carried the Rhode Island flag during the opening ceremonies . It was all fun: the game, the pit area, watching other robots, even the postgame conversation on the 2 hour ride home. And I had just turned 13 at the time, so it ranked up there on my list of good times.

[Aignam]

Duel on the Delaware 2002.

Steve won. But, I mean, we all knew that.

25 partnered with 87 in the only 2 team alliance out of 8 alliances. The finals were against 122, 365, and 341. The match ended with 365 spun 90 degrees with two (?) goals in 25's scoring zone and 25's mouse bot in the home zone.

[Steve Howland]

My original event was the 2003 Fall Fury - I got a chance to figure out the game and operate a couple of qualifications. At that point I wasn't even sure if I would continue on the team, but after the event I became completely obsessed

MY first official event was the 2004 New Jersey Regional. At first I was overwhelmed by all the people there..the dancing, singing, cheering, etc. I wanted to do something on the team besides watching from the stands - when I asked a senior on the team what I should do I was handed a clipboard and told "scout." I scouted, but soon thought to myself, "wow, this is boring."

So I went down to the pits and joined my team, asking our pit boss what I should do. She said leave, it was too crowded already. After scouting a little more I returned and was kicked out again, probably 3 times in total. Once more I came back to the pits but this time went to a mentor before our pit boss got to me. I asked what I could do, and was given a job of repairing an old robot cart. This was my first ever accomplishment on the team, and people began to see that, despite being the only freshman on the team, I could make a difference. I helped out on a few other things and the next day while watching matches a mentor came up to the stands and told me that we were reorganizing the pit and that my help would be needed - I felt great,having gone from scouter to necessary pit worker!

I worked a lot on the repairs that competition, and for the next regional since our former boss could not make it I was elected pit boss, a title which the two of us now share. (except now we are also both operators for the team, so we haven't really decided what we are doing next year)

We ended up in 42nd out of 47 for the NJ regional but got picked by 181 early. We lost in the quarterfinals and got no awards, but it was a great event for me and now I am excited to have 3 more years of FIRST (as a student anyway...I will later work as college student/mentor hopefully) ahead of me. (did anyone actually read that whole thing? That was my longest post on record, I believe).

-Steve Howland

[Matt Attallah]

My first time was at the 2000 Great Lakes. Very fun times. Had a blast with RUSH (27), Buzz (33), Juggernauts (1), and other teams that don't really stand out (sorry ) and than going through the 'tent' made by people all around the field after our feather-weight in the finals award (for the 3rd time in a row. Maybe that's why they discontinued it! Alcoa was AFL's parent company and they delt with aluminum)

But I remember it being a Very-Very small place. Maybe that's why they don't hold it in the same place the following years!

[Amanda Morrison]

2002 Midwest Regional was the first FIRST competition I ever stepped into.

After an hour of being there, I was already hamming it up for the Jumbotron and meeting lots of people.

After two hours, I became a bleacher coach.

After three hours, I was hooked on FIRST.

[Ryan M.]

The first one I attended was the Pittsburg regional in 2004.

The main thing I remember from that is that it was small, nothing like the Buckeye where we actually competed.

[DCA Fan]

2002 Southern California. Boy did our robot stink.

[Rich Kressly]

2001 Philadelphia Regional

I had just finished coaching basketball for the year and my wife was so glad I was going to be home more (oops). As an English teacher, I helped the students on Team 103 edit a few newsletters during the year at the request of team leader Cathy Beck. I had also seen their robot one time at a faculty presentation, but that was my whole exposure to FIRST until Cathy and her husband Dave (regional WFA winner) asked me if I wanted to attend a competition. I said, "Sure" - heck it was a day off of school.

So I board the bus at 6 am on Friday with the rest of the team not knowing what to expect. We get there, I sit down with the group at the Drexel field house and ask Dave and Cathy what I can do. They tell me to just enjoy my day. That lasted maybe 20 minutes. I walk around the pits and sense the energy in the place and the first match starts and I go batty with excitement.

I noticed all of the alliance strategy stuff happening and I saw 103 really had little scouting/strategy going on. The coaching instincts kicked in and I asked Dave, "Do you mind..." He proceeds to give me two team members and said, "Go for it." With some blank paper and a vague idea of the game we developed a scouting/strategy system on the fly.

As luck would have it, 103 had an awesome day and I got really excited about it. Seeing the teams cooperate the way they did totally blew me away. Saturday I couldn't go back with the team, but followed match scores on the web (just 24 hours earlier I had no clue what FIRST was), and lo and behold 103 was a member of the winning alliance. Dave called me on the way home to tell me what I already knew.

Needless to say I was more than interested, but Monday morning in the school hallway Dave came walking towards me with a gold medal.
"Here, we really appreciate what you did for us."
"I can't take that, I didn't do anything."
"We talked about it and the kids want you to have it."

That was it, I was done. I wound up going to Epcot a few weeks later with the team and upon my return scheduled an appointment with the principal to ask him how he felt about me resigning as a basketball coach to be a full time member of Team 103.

Almost four years, another teaching job at a new school, a new team in the works, and an appointment as a senior mentor later, my wife is still waiting for me to come home...

Thank you Cathy and Dave.

[JAH]

My first FIRST competition was IRI 2002. I wasn't on Cyber Blue yet but a friend's older brother and father were, so we were doing field reset and I just thought it was awesome. Hammond capturing all 3 goals, and T3's little truck driving around. It was something spectacular. My first competition on Cyber Blue was Richmond 2003. That was also just an amazing thing. 3 days worth of robotics and some fun times afterwards. The team social with ice cream, a great hotel, tons of awesome things. FIRST started it all, I am what I am now because of robotics. It really does inspire.

[Alex Cormier]

my first one was Buckeye Regional in 2003, my my we never knew what we were getting into as we won the regional and went on to the nationals and got demolished by the better of the teams. it was great and we hope to go back to Buckeye for the third year and win it yet again this year for 3 in a row. Good luck to all in the season!