Friend Teams-- The Sweet Challenge

[Beth Sweet]

This is my fifth year in FIRST, I suppose that's beginning to make me an "old-timer". I was talking to Jane (always a good thing) and the topic came up that, as of late, there has been a change in the attitude of FIRST. I've noticed it in myself as well. I feel like when I joined FIRST, it was much smaller. When it was smaller, it was more intimate.

I find that now, it is becoming quite a "race to the top". Every team is trying to become the next 67, 111, or 1114. When a team is not selected for a tourament, they turn off caring about what's going on on the field and find something new to do. I admit I am one of the worst at this (as those of you who saw in Atlanta when we didn't get selected may have seen). When I first joined, and at the 1 competition I went to before I joined (my sister was on HOT), teams who didn't make it picked another team and cheered!

So the next point is, how to fix this? I think one of the starting points is to return to the intimacy. Obviously, we will never be able to be like before. There are many more teams involved now and that is a good thing. I think that one of the keys to returning to the intimacy, friendship, and general ideals of the program is to return to all teams becoming friends again.

So what I'd like to do in this thread is to ask each reader to call out which teams their team is friends with. Who are your friend teams? How do you support them? How does your team reach out and get new friend teams?

I challenge everyone who reads this thread to reach out to the teams in their surrounding area. Get together and do an outing with other teams. Get to know them, their students, their mentors. Awhile ago, Barry posted his Bonzack challenge, so I'll call this the Sweet Challenge. Go out, and make friends with as many teams as you can and post about what you've done!

PS. Mods, I know this may sound like chit-chat, but I'm really very serious about this. Can we please leave it in General, at least for a little while?

[Dylan Gramlich]

I will start this off by saying that i must agree whole heartedly with you on this subject! Well at SparX we have our big sister team 191 and our other sister team 1450 who we always cheer for and cheer with and even go out to dinner with, plus enjoy plane and bus rides together! then there is team SparX newest friend team 340 who we have begun to grow quite close to! we have done one demo with them so far and have at least one more planned. we also try to keep in touch with teams we have been alliance partners with! such as team 316 and 73 this year from FLR as well as team 1038 from Buckeye(who we have know and competed with since our first year). Also 229 who we have gone out to get ice cream with last year after Championships! i would encourage other teams, as well as my own, to keep in touch with teams and build friendships with other local teams!

[Vogel648]

Team 648 is closely related to team 107. It has been this way since one year we were on an alliance with them in eliminations and we hung out for lunch, since then we've shared the same hotel several times, held pizza parties together, played games, watched movies, and all manner of other things together while at competition. This of course is in addition to rooting for each other when it wouldn't be against ourselves.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Originally Posted by Vogel648

Team 648 is closely related to team 107. It has been this way since one year we were on an alliance with them in eliminations and we hung out for lunch, since then we've shared the same hotel several times, held pizza parties together, played games, watched movies, and all manner of other things together while at competition. This of course is in addition to rooting for each other when it wouldn't be against ourselves.

We cheered for each other in the matches we did play against one another, too.

Here are some more examples of our unique friendship with 107:

• West Michigan last year, 107 invited us to Holland Christian High and we played Halo, had a pizza party, and watched a movie.
• Midwest 2007, 648 brought a taste of the QC, Whitey's Ice Cream, and shared it with 107 in a party
• Midwest 2007, some members of each team played a giant game of Twister on a mat that we made.
• Atlanta 2007, after not making eliminations, nearly all of 648 moved over to Archimedes and cheered on 107.
• Atlanta 2007, 648 shuttled several members of 107 to the GA Dome in the mornings.

And who can forget? LAV IS AMAZING! Just ask Lacey.

[AdamHeard]

294 always cheers for beachbots (330) (even in the San Diego finals against them).

We also support 687 as they have several mentors that our friends with ours.

[David55]

I totally agree with you Beth. This is something that all FIRST teams can benefit from.

Our team (1577) and "Hamosad" (1657) have the same teacher that mentors us (he is our only adult mentor, and manages to run both teams by sleeping about 2 hours a night during build season ). The members of our team last year considered them as our biggest rivals, and we had to be better then them at everything (which is a pretty childish attitude). This year the teams really became good friends, and we both help each other out whenever possible (recently they drove an hour with their robot and mini rack to help us out with a demo we held in our city). We also plan on having a barbecue with them when they return from Atlanta.
I think both teams would agree that they benefited greatly from this friendship.

[BuddyB309]

I see this in my team all the time. They want to become a well respected team but then only foucus on the robot. They never reach out and socialize with other teams, unless its about chasis designs, and they never make friendships. I on the other hand normally choose a team at a regional event and hang out with them all day. By the end of the day I should know at least half of the people on the team. Of coures i still cheer for my own team, but now i get a second team to cheer for.

My team doesnt understand that just being at a FIRST robotics event is a great thing. I look forward to the event itself rather than the chance of being number one.

[JackN]

The Martians have been around awhile, and in that time we have made some friends that have really helped us become who we are today like our pals 503, 469, 2137, 191, and 71. Each of these teams have been very important to our history and our team.

503-You guys always push us to our limits when we play. We love competing with you guys. The friendship that has formed in the past two years between us is something that we love and would never want to lose.

469-Wow, you guys have always been a team we have looked to and admired, for your strong robots and strong members. Seeing you guys everywhere is awesome. Playing with you this year was definitely a highlight.

2137-You guys acomplished so much this year, and you taught us so much. Your passion and drive to just field a robot was something that most teams lose. I was more inspired by their students than any other person place or thing this year. THEY GET FIRST

191-The love our students have for you is something that is really almost creepy. Most of the students from 05 have graduated and moved on, but throwing out the X-Cats X is still a popular trend on our team. One of these years we will be back at FLR and the two of us will get back to our winning ways.

71-We owe a lot of our success to these guys. They picked us in 2004 at Championship, and the rest as they say is history. Whenever we see these guys, we love to play with and against them. They are truly a FIRST FORCE.

[FourPenguins]

MORT <3 POJO (Team 1302 from Pope John Regional High School)
We started their team in 2004 and have cheered for them ever since, even when against them in the semifinals at NYC. (They gave us one of their champion medals in thanks, which was pretty cool of them.) Ours doors are still open to them, and they need only to ask.

MORT, Tigers, and Bears, OH MY (Team 1251 the Techtigers and Team 247 DaBears)
Last year we had a wild ride to nationals at the Palmetto Regional with these two amazing teams. We yelled, we screamed, we owned, and we owe it all to each other.

Pascack Pioneers (Team 1676)
In the last two years, our team and theirs have developed a mutual respect, strengthened by one outgoing team member from the Pioneers. (If you're reading this, Hi Lizzy) She met a few of us at the New Jersey FLL competition and she's kept in touch since.

[Momo675]

We have our friendly resident Baker who walked around getting other teams shirts and sitting in on their meetings. He is our "go to mingle guy" of a sort.

I made a few friends here and there, mostly just people who stopped by a few times. Plus the two safety Captains that I had met before were awesome... If I can remember is was a Randy and a... crud, I cant remember the other guys name but they were cool.

Plus at the regionals we go to we talk with the usual teams. And who can forget the onesided rivalry between us and 254...

Through all this I have noticed the sort of withdrawl of excitement and spirit in the event. It might just be that this year I was superglued to my pit, ambushing anyone who didn't have their safety glasses but maybe not. And next year I plan to actually take a break once in a while and maybe mingle with Baker.

[Otaku]

Heh.

Momo's pretty much correct -- I'm the guy who wanders around pits (or in the case of nationals, our hotel) and socializes with other teams. One night I even wore a 694 (Stuypulse) shirt and stood in during their team meeting at the Marriott Marquis. That was interesting. =D

I'd say that 675 is on pretty good terms with 100, 114, 670, and maybe a few others (sorry, I've seen upwards of 400 teams this season... that's a lot of unique numbers...). Only really one of those teams is because of me almost exclusively (Team 100, I talked to their safety captain a lot).

[GaryVoshol]

1188 has always had a good relationship with 65, starting from back when they helped us get started (before my time).

Back in FLL, the Dragon Devils had a very friendly rivalry going with the Imperial Icebergs, and the mentors from the teams are happy to see each other at FRC and off-season events now.

Personally, I've made friends of students, mentors and alumni from many teams. It seems that any event that I work at, I find a new team to add to my list, often a rookie team. (And I probably shouldn't list them, because I'll forget somebody, but here goes anyway): 1, 33, 47, 67, 217, 226, 247, 314, 397, 469, 503, 573, 830, 1015, 1114, 1504, 1941, 2283. Some of those teams may not even know me by name, but every time we saw each other as they checked in at queuing, or asked something at pit admin, or whatever our conversation might be, I was impressed by their friendliness and GP.

[65_Xero_Huskie]

This is what i love about FIRST, The ability to becoem aqauanted with so many teams. Personally, whenever 1188 or 47 are around i like to cheer for them and talk to them. During Nationals I looked up from the field and seen a sea of red where we were sitting. Team 66 came over to where we were sitting and cheered with us which was a surprise because i never would have expected that. Our team has always had good standings with lots of teams and when Ken can go up to teams and just start talking like old friends it makes me glad to be on the Huskie Brigade. I suggest that everyone on a team go talk to other people on teams, get to know them and try and start a bond between teams. FIRST teams are to closely related to not have a bond between some other team.

[Taylor]

I really think that because of IndianaFIRST, the IN teams really pull for each other. With the Statehouse visits, workshops, and random friendships between teams, IN teams get a lot of interaction with each other. From 45 to 2277, most of the mentors are connected and we've got good working relationships with each other.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by boiler

I really think that because of IndianaFIRST, the IN teams really pull for each other. With the Statehouse visits, workshops, and random friendships between teams, IN teams get a lot of interaction with each other. From 45 to 2277, most of the mentors are connected and we've got good working relationships with each other.

A bunch of us were with the 45 gang at Galileo rooting them on, a couple of us with our Technocat shirts on. After they lost we ran over to Curie to support 234 but they were out so we ran over and cheered for 71 the last Indiana team left.