Does FIRST give out too many awards? (Opinion)

[Allison K]

It seems to me, that it would make the most sense to keep the participation medals (as they are obviously valuble to a number of people), and if participation medals aren't your thing, then just don't take one. I'm fortunate enough to be on a team that generally does fairly well, however 2004 was a rough year for us, and some of the students were clutching those participation medals like their lives depended on it.

As for the awards (which was I think the original topic, and I feel bad posting and contributing only to the tangents), I don't think there's too many. When there are no teams deserving of the awards, then maybe there are too many, but I haven't yet seen a competition where there is no team worthy of any certain award. One of my favorite parts about FIRST is the multi-facetedness (there I go making up words) of the program. There is a place for people of all interests, and limiting the number of awards seems like it would seem like it would put a damper on some of the different aspects of the competition. People who get no recognition tend to get disheartened. I've seen it on my own team (and am working to fix it), and I've seen it here on these forums (the animators come to mind first, but also between the lines in discussions of how to level the playing field, and others of similar nature). The large number of awards is a celebration of the different talents that it takes to create a strong, competitive team.

~Allison