The Future of FRC Teams....

[fuzzwaz]

After a few years of FIRST robotics I really started thinking about the ways "dominant" teams survive from year to year. Why is it that some teams that have the reputation of being so good stay so good when new generations take over the spots of the old. There are a lot of answers to that question. People have told me that it was the mentors, the work place, and even the community support that keeps teams going. I however looked at sports to see if I could find the answer.

-Sports teams are similar to robotics teams right? You have coaches and a community that will stick behind you no matter what. So is a robotics team like a sports team? Can we call HOT 67 the New Orleans Saints of the FRC? A lot of people have told me that we can.

- So what does this mean? If robotics teams can be related to sports then how can we have teams that are always “dominant”? What happened to the Steelers this year in football? Why do the Pistons keep going from amazing to pretty bad (From MI, I can say that!). If we compare the HOT to the Patriots, will we start seeing a weaker HOT team? So does that mean that for the most part, robotics teams will change just like sports?

-Maybe a few years from now our younger generations will not speak of the HOTs, Chickens, Simbotics, of the FRC but some new teams that are the “new dominant”? What happens to the old ones? Do they go back and rebuild until they can finally reach their glory once again? Or maybe this sports stuff just doesn’t relate to robotics. Maybe 20 years from now these same strong teams will stay strong. What do you guys think? How will teams change over the years? If you think teams will get weaker, which ones and why? If you see some teams that are really starting to shine, tell me who they are and why you think people will be talking about them a few years down the road. I want to hear what you guys think!