Team 61 Last year with FIRST

[Alfred Thompson]

We went 8 years without a team because of losing a sponsor. And we were not a crummy team either. Back in the day we were the top team one year and the third place team the second year. This was back when FIRST was smaller and teams went one on one. We do have a FIRST Finalist trophy in our trophy case though. So it was rough losing the sponsor.
This year we had a principal sponsor and a great machine shop behind us but we still had to find money here and there. I'm not sure there is an easy answer to this problem. It does cost money to build a robot and get to Regionals etc. I'm not sure that the cost per student is all that much more than a football or hockey team (would be interesting to find out) but schools tend to be stretched thin for money. Our plan is to try and find several companies so we can afford to lose one if it happens.
I think that what we need most from FIRST is what Dean spends so much of his time on - trying to get companies to realize that an investment in a FIRST team is an investment in their future employees.