Teams I'm Inspired By

[smurfgirl]

I'm inspired by so many teams in so many ways. It astounds me how many teams can accomplish the seemingly impossible, they reach out to people in their communities and all around the world, touching the hearts of so many. They produce incredible robots, sturdy and reliable through tough matches, quick and agile on the field, robots that excel under all circumstances. They have strategies that most of us could have never come up with, but are executed perfectly. Their mentors are inspiring. The team members work together like clockwork. They have amazing scouting databases. Their spirit and enthusiasm is never-ending. They're friendly and open to helping everyone.

Each team has their own strong point, but some teams stand out from the rest as leaders in specific categories, or just teams with all-around excellence. They are the teams we look up to, the standard we hold ourselves to. I think that everyone should recognize the teams that inspire them, no matter who they are.

Of course, we're all biased to local teams, since they're the ones who help us get off our feet. Established Connecticut teams like 175, 176, 177, 178, 181, 195, 227, 228, and 230 definitely inspire rookie teams as they come about, and help them to find their footing. I know they did that for my team in it's early years, before I was around, but continued to support us and help us find resources. It's great to have a helpful older sibling around when you're first getting started, and I hope teams that are entering their later years remember to help out newer teams around them.

My rookie year in FIRST, I also learned a very important lesson from Team 177. Or maybe a few lessons. It was my first official FIRST competition, the UTC New England Regional 2006, and our team was ranked 40 out of 40 with one match to go. We had had some pretty bad luck with alliance partners not showing up, and while our robot was definitely not number one, it was decent, and had some hidden talent. I naively assumed that our rank meant everything, and this was the end for us. However, during alliance selections, we were chosen by 177 to round out their alliance. That's right, it's not just team qualifying rank that counts, it's important to pick teams that fit your strategy, and can be an effective member of your alliance. That was news to me. And then... since I had coached a few matches, I got to sit in on the strategy session for the eliminations. Team 177's scouting captain came in with a wealth of documented data... he was like a god to me. I had no idea how important or how extensive scouting data could be. It was a wake-up call for the whole team. I learned a lot about strategy from that experience, and it's thanks to the wisdom of an older team. I'm sure everyone has stories like this.

As Koko Ed pointed out, the Hall of Fame teams are definitely people who should be inspirations to us all. It's worth looking into them and talking to HOF teams to get an idea of the kinds of things that they have done, and still do.

There are many other salient examples. 1902 is definitely an inspiration to me. They came into the game knowing what FIRST was really about, from the very beginning. I'm pretty sure this is what helped them get to Einstein their very first year.

Team 365 has a very unique way of running their team, and they have a multitude of resources for new students and new teams. They have seemingly endless spirit, and an overall good attitude towards everything. They're also sometimes surprising with their strategies, as they showed me last year on Archimedes.

I know a lot of east coast teams, being from Connecticut, but it doesn't mean the teams on the west coast escape us. I heard about team 254 at the very beginning of my FRC experience, and we've definitely learned a thing or two about designing effective robots from looking at their extensive history of victory. Actually, I could say the same for Team 233 down in Florida.

I could go on and on... my experience in FIRST has been shaped by a lot of teams, some older than others. I just think it's great to have these teams here to guide us and show us the extent of our potential.