Elite (invite only) FIRST teams

[4throck]

Any FIRST team based on the principles of exclusivity and winning at all costs goes against everything that FIRST stands for. Such a team would neither inspire nor motivate any student except the most selfishly ambitious. While your scheme may or may not produce a team that is successful on the field, it is not likely to produce many innovative engineers, or indeed anyone else besides mid-level managers. Rather, it would only educate participating students in the priciples of groupthink, kowtowing to the status quo, and a static conception of what constitutes innovation. Just because someone can sell an idea to a board of directors (i.e. an oligarchy) does not mean that they have anything useful to say. Such a team would only perpetuate passive conformity and suppress truly creative thinking.

We at 1418 have always strongly condemned any application process for our members. This has not only resulted in success on the field, but also in true inspiration. Our alumni have graduated from our program with a passion for discovery and a willingness to break the mold to find the best solution to a problem. Part of the reason for this has been our philosophical emphasis on content before appearance. A mere presentation of intent does not consitute a viable solution to any problem. No matter how slick a speil a student can put on a piece of paper, in the end it is the process of construction that defines the robot. This should be a learning process emphasizing collaboration and personal development before personal glory.

In the end, you have to ask yourself whether FIRST is about shutting people out, or teaching, including, and encouraging everyone who is ready to put in the hours and has something productive to contribute.

--Commander Rachek and 4throck

[Melissa Nute]

Originally Posted by Pavan Dave

To those who are complaining about the application process,This team will NOT be school affiliated. It will have participants from schools but it will not be a "SCHOOL" team. It will be an extra curricular activity so there aren't even 10000 people to choose from, ONLY those interested enough that want to apply to this program and show that they meet X standards will make a strong team with some knowledge starting off which is better than having 50 people on your team but only 5 that can identify the difference between a standard and metric crescent wrench when it comes competition time.


Pavan

This is going to have issues come competition season when you need to get students out to attend. Schools will have to be affiliated with some support of the team otherwise the students are going to be in bad shape when they are missing classes due to FIRST events. A school official has to take care of the necessary paperwork to approve the time off for the students.

[rachal]

Personally, I never would have known I was interested in (or talented at, relatively) engineering if I hadn't done FIRST. What you're doing is starting up an uber-team just for kicks, which is awesome for competent FIRST veterans still in high school who have gotten too fed up with their original teams to work with them, but completely skips over the whole teamwork-and-get-kids-interested-in-science thing.

[Mr. Van]

Its not about the robots.

If you have FIRST in your blood, then step up to the real challenge and cross the line to mentoring, coaching and volunteering. Be a referee or assist in field management, or robot inspector. Or start a team and guide it in the ideals of FIRST.

But ask yourself, "Why?" and "Who am I doing this for?" If the answer has anything to do with "I like building robots" then by all means, build robots, but you can do that without FIRST. If the answer has something to do with "passing it on" or "sharing" or "inspiring", then let that be the foundation for your new team.

Good luck!

-Mr. Van
Coach, Robodox

[HOT_SOUP]

Originally Posted by rachal

Personally, I never would have known I was interested in (or talented at, relatively) engineering if I hadn't done FIRST. What you're doing is starting up an uber-team just for kicks, which is awesome for competent FIRST veterans still in high school who have gotten too fed up with their original teams to work with them, but completely skips over the whole teamwork-and-get-kids-interested-in-science thing.

Woohoo, that makes two of us that think that!