Ideas to move in the direction of making FIRST competitions 'fair'

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by BlondeNerd

... it does not seem right when I see teams at competition with several middle-aged men in the pit working on the bot, while the students serve merely as drivers. A way to make FIRST 'fair' would be to add an award, or introduce a factor into qualifying points, that rewarded teams based on some sort of interview that could show how much the team worked on the robot rather than the adults. ...

I know this has been debated ad nauseum in earlier threads. I've resisted jumping in before. But I don't like to see a distinction drawn between "team" and "adults". By definition a team is one entity, and an FRC team's adult members are as much a part of that entity as its high school students. One great example is FRC 71, Team Hammond, winner of the 2006 STL Regional Chairman's Award and a member of the 2006 STL winning alliance, along with several dozen other distinctions earned since 1996, including four FRC Championships.

Last year, St. Louis was 71's first event of the 2006 season and like many teams, they had a lot of work to do getting their robot ready to compete. As the lead robot inspector, I had a wonderful opportunity to see the BEAST evolve before my eyes. I watched both how the robot was improved, and how the team created those improvements. For students willing to listen, learn, take direction, and keep up with a professional work pace, there was a whole lot of hands-on teaching going on.

As many are aware, Team Hammond is sponsored by Beatty Machine & Mfgr. Co. and that sponsor provides the team, among many other forms of support, the services of several of the finest engineers, machinists and technicians to be found anywhere. The younger (student) members of 71 are lucky indeed to see and follow the example set by experienced professionals. And while it is true that many of 71's student members don't work on the robot, it is also true that many do. The standard they are held to is a very high one -- to work on the BEAST it seems you don't have to be a professional, but you do have to behave and perform like one. While this model of teamwork may not be the best for every team, it sure seems to work for 71. It is hard to argue with success, and 71's success is an inspiration not only to its own students but to all of the FIRST community.