Role Model Teams

[Rohith Surampudi]

Any team that participates in FIRST helps make FIRST so much fun, the very fact that you are part of FIRST means that you are making a better world for the future, as Dean once said one of us will find a cure for cancer or bring an end to world hunger, Teams bring all of us together, Therefore every team is my role model.

[OZ_341]

Originally Posted by Rohith Surampudi

Any team that participates in FIRST helps make FIRST so much fun, the very fact that you are part of FIRST means that you are making a better world for the future, as Dean once said one of us will find a cure for cancer or bring an end to world hunger, Teams bring all of us together, Therefore every team is my role model.

I think in life it is wise to have more than one mentor or role model. No one human being or organization does everything perfectly. They all have strengths and weaknesses.
I know when I worked in industry I had multiple people that I admired and learned from, through example. Simply put; In my life I have had many "Fathers".
I think the same thing applies to FIRST. Every team has something to offer or model from.

[Jherbie53]

Originally Posted by OZ_341

I think in life it is wise to have more than one mentor or role model. No one human being or organization does everything perfectly. They all have strengths and weaknesses.
I know when I worked in industry I had multiple people that I admired and learned from, through example. Simply put; In my life I have had many "Fathers".
I think the same thing applies to FIRST. Every team has something to offer or model from.

This is true, not just one team or person is perfect. You can admire them for their good qualities, and learn from some of there bad ones. Some teams are good to learn from for their technical skills with their robots. Others are good to learn from what they do to recruit, how their team is organized, and how spirited they are as a group.

I have learned that you might have a team as a role model one year and another the next, this also applies to people that are role models. They keep changing, and you might have to change who you have as a role model in order to achieve what you want. If you want to get the Imagery award, I suggest looking at the Killer Bees 33. If you want an Innovation in Control award, look at HOT Bot 67. These are teams that are good to learn from, and not just in one area, but in every area. Don't just look at teams that are in the spotlight each and every year, but try looking at teams that are under the radar. Because every team has something to contribute.

Finally I want to say, that everyone is a role model, like it or not. You might just be a second year team, but some rookies will look at what you did the year before. I might even be a role model and not even know it, at least until some one says that I am.

[Joe Matt]

I generally don't like to have "role model" teams, generally because I find that no team fully represents FIRST. There will be bad eggs and bad times, there will be problems. While I do enjoy what many teams have done, I hardly look up to them. As much as I love 45, I don't want to branch off and start a company with things 384 has created in the past, nor do I want to do what they do. We have our own goals and ideals, our own quirks and problems. Teams are too big to be role models, but I think some individuals can certainly be.

*this post wasn't ment to single out and cause problems with 45*

[techtiger1]

Role model teams include all the teams in the FIRST hall of fame as well as many others. 45, 121, 233, 217, 469, 234 Those are just a few I mean there are a lot out there. Pretty much all the veterans teams are awesome and willing to help, they really do a good job promoting and making FIRST what it is today.

-Drew

[StephLee]

For me personally, three teams come immediately to mind: 175, 393, and 395.

Buzz has such a great history and they're so much fun to compete with. Their mentors and students were some of the easiest people to work with that I got to meet. They were the ones who suggested our alliance call our timeout for the other alliance, and they're always willing to help other teams out. Getting to play with them again in Atlanta was one of the highlights of the weekend.

The Full Metal Jackets kept our finals alliance drive teams at Pittsburgh from dying of boredom during the extremely long wait. They kept us all upbeat and never gave up, even when we had the worst luck ever. I loved their perseverance and great attitude.

2Train is an amazing team; they're such a great example of GP and everything a team should be. I loved getting to play with them in both Pittsburgh and Atlanta.

[katiyeh07]

Originally Posted by StephLee

For me personally, three teams come immediately to mind: 175, 393, and 395.

Buzz has such a great history and they're so much fun to compete with. Their mentors and students were some of the easiest people to work with that I got to meet. They were the ones who suggested our alliance call our timeout for the other alliance, and they're always willing to help other teams out. Getting to play with them again in Atlanta was one of the highlights of the weekend.

The Full Metal Jackets kept our finals alliance drive teams at Pittsburgh from dying of boredom during the extremely long wait. They kept us all upbeat and never gave up, even when we had the worst luck ever. I loved their perseverance and great attitude.

2Train is an amazing team; they're such a great example of GP and everything a team should be. I loved getting to play with them in both Pittsburgh and Atlanta.

awww steph...nick and i are crying over here

[Not2B]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

I'd like to give a shout out to the teams who think that they are great but nobody else even remembers their number. The teams who can say "I know we are a great team even without everyone else saying so."

Those are my favorite teams...
Doing their thing...
That's what I want to be like...

[JackN]

I admire several teams for many different reasons.

I like Wildstang for the way they continuly build really cool robots year after year. They always have a very interesting design that does very well. They also inspire their students to go on in the future.

I like The Thunderchickens for the way they build a great program with a ton of students. They are a large team and make some strong machines. I am glad that they won this year.

The Killer Bees and Pink are respected by me for a different reason. They are some of the most reconizable teams in the world. They build innovative machines that win and win and win. They have been partnered together several times and it makes sense. They are very similar teams.

Beatty, The Cheesy Poofs and The Las Guerillas make this list for yet another different reason. If you are looking for a recipe for success (Sorry HOT) look at these three. Not only have they built some of the best robots of all time, they are also all winners with a combined 23 regional wins and 5 national championships. They produce students ready to face the world and start other teams I.E. Beatty and the many teams from there. They all are Chairmans Award Winners in my book, 469 should be anyway.

These teams along with many others have inspired me in my many travels of FIRST.

[hoorayforpink]

personally I look up to 180 seeing them compete cheer and just overall everything they are an amazing team

[santosh]

Teams I look up to...
47: After reading your teams history on the official team site, i immediatley felt inspired to try and gain more recognition for our team and for FIRST in general and to spread FIRST in our community
71: I mean come on, is an explanation really neeeded...
180: Your ability to strategize is just plain ridiculous
341: Miss Daisy, you guys do so much to try and spread FIRST and have a strong community base, something we are trying very hard to expand upon, and you guys are constantly helping other teams.
510: Your level of spirit and sportsmanship from what I have seen is something we should all aspire to reach
538: Your 2004 robot was the first FIRST robot I had seen in action and actualyl got me hooked.
1139: From what I have heard, the 1st and only Georgia team to touch Einstein. The Gatorade bottle agitator is my hero.
1848: Your abillity to put together a robot with less than 10 meetings all year, after being spread apart all across Georgia and being put together 2 weeks into the build season is simply amazing (I promise it wont happen again this year lol)
2train: The hardships that you have faced and still face coupled with your abilities on the field and your exemplary GP, IMO, is unmatched.

[Martinez]

Its hard to pick among so many great teams, but I have to go with 1511. They were (are) the model Rookie Team that all others should inspire to be.

[Kims Robot]

I have to agree with those that suggest that no team is perfect, but I would add that there are some great things that if you take from each team, are true inspirations. I dont think I can make a full list... but for me here are some.

233 - Pink was a HUGE inspiration to our team at the Boston regional... many of our kids were ho-humming about spirit... they were excited, but kept saying that "no body else was cheering" on our team. So they teamed up with the Pink team, and learned the roller coaster and just how to have fun while cheering. They loved it so much that they went home and had a whole spirit day before championships, and tore down the Curie field with their new-found spirit!!

176 - My rock and my alma matter... I wrote them so many times as I started each 229 & 1511, asking how to do this or that, or just rambling off our issues or my excitement. From them we grabbed the awesome idea of a "Patron Book" that every year brings us more than 10k in sponsorship money, and at the same time, teaches kids to get out in the community & spread the word of FIRST. 176 the role model that we used to gain the idea of making more well rounded students, do community service, give back, do demos, help other teams, host events! To me, they were a great team even before they won championships.

191 & 340 - These teams are awesome role models for the Rochester community and have been big helps to 1511 in pulling Rochester together. They are also very consistant in their strong work with the students, and doing it all for the right reasons

Lastly 1551 - One of those teams that I doubt anyone outside rochester knows... Naples Robotics. Their team took 3 years to pull together the funding to make it to the regional in 2005!! They struggled yet again with funding this year, but pulled through... and even as their robots are often simple and bare, they learn... and now they have students thirsting for knowledge, wanting to know how to program the camera when they have no engineering mentors and no programmers! Yet they perservere.

So in summary, 233 for their spirit, 176 for its "team" & entrepreurship, 191 & 340 for their community, and 1551 for its perservence make up my ideal role model team

[Hiteak]

1511, 340, and 191 have all really helped me out within the past year. All of them have offered advise and guiding us on the great journey know as FIRST. Working with them has been a great honor and has been fun.

[ScoutingNerd175]

Originally Posted by katiyeh07

awww steph...nick and i are crying over here

Me too, Steph, we love you guys. For a second year team to have the kind of success 1629 had this year is definitely admirable in my book.

I admire every team, but especially those who, even when their robot is broken and their team is loosing, even when they haven't been selected to play the finals, even when they aren't winning the big awards (or any at all) still continue to have spirit, to cheer on their team and others, to be inspired, and to spread the word of first. It's easy to be spirited when you are winning, it's so much harder when you are loosing.

To point out one team in particular that hasn't been mentioned. The gracious professionalism showed by team 237 in Maryland was awe-inspiring. Team 237 helped multiple teams to get their robots in working order. Some teams had only a few team members on Thursday and 237 helped them to get their robots through inspection. On Thursday I passed one team's pit who had only a few team members there that day, and there were probably 8+ members of 237 in their pit helping them out. That is the spirit of FIRST to me. I don't know too much about how 237 runs because I haven't really had a chance to talk to anyone on their team (I should try to fix that) but for their actions in Maryland, I definitely admire them.