This year's rookies

[Keith Chester]

When you're talking to the coach of a rookie team you mentored tell you about how he's thinking of quitting his esteemed position of football coach to dedicate more time to his team? You hear something.

When he tells you his rich and spoiled kids, who were overly competitive, by the end of the first day was running to their opponents to offer help in fixing their robot and shaking their hands after losing a match? You realize something.

When he tells you that even though the robot spent its first day barely getting by, that every single member of his team still has unparalleled excitement and not a single one gave up hope? You catch a hint of something.

When he tells you about how, when telling his team that while they may not get a chance to go to nationals, if the opportunity arose (which it did), who would be willing to fundraise and spend the enormous amount of money required to go to nationals, and had every single hand raise? You see something.

When this entire team comes up to you when you pass by their pits and congratulates you on a great bot that knocked them out of the running, thanks you for all the help you gave them, and tells you that if you have any projects to help FIRST in ANYWAY they will be there? You know something.

That something?

That FIRST is working, still alive amongst the rookie teams. And that, no matter what happens now, there will be another team with the true ideals of FIRST, working to spread it amongst other schools.

While I talked mostly about one team, I met a few rookie teams like this. They have the right idea. Rookie teams like this make any observor say that rookies this year are an outstanding success.