Vote to change the format of FIRST.

[Tom Line]

Originally Posted by Mr.G

And these are the teams that win it all. EVERY YEAR.

Yep. And there isn't a darn thing you can do about it.

Look at the resources teams like Chickens, Simbotics, Robowranglers, etc have. Full practice fields. A full crew of professional mentors. Top notch fab facilities ready to donate their time. Huge funding. Etc. Etc.

No amount of extra work time is going to help. Indeed, my team is absolutely physically and mentally exhausted by the end of the build season. Suggesting extending it even more is, quite frankly, about as appealing as shoving sharp implements under my fingernails, and I know my teammates agree.

On top of that, extending the build season only allows those superfunded and super-mentored teams to further widen the gap. You think you can get more done with an extra week or two? Think about what THOSE teams could do with another two weeks.

Any additional time you gain gives all the other teams the same amount of time. It doesn't serve to level the playing field. Indeed, one of the biggest lessons you take from first is about time management. Tradeoffs. Working under pressure.

I'll take it just the way it is.