The Future of FRC Teams....

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by 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!

I guess I'll take a whack at this. FRC teams require passionate students, mentors, and a lot of community support. Mentors rarely leave, you get some that jump around and it does damage the team but by and large the core group stays. These mentors are good at getting students to be passionate and that is why they are successful year in and out.

FRC Teams do move in cycles. Every team has their off years, HOT in '06 comes to mind.

Will we be talking about new dominant teams? YES! Back when I started Beatty was king. Powerhouses: 33, 47, 65, 111, 71, 45, 494 (This isn't a comprehensive list just the ones off the top of my head). 1114 was good but not powerhouse yet, 2056 wasn't around. 1625 didn't exist yet. 67, while good hadn't had their year made of win and forever cemented themselves as a powerhouse. (Yes, I honestly believe 67 is the most dominant team in FIRST) How many of those powerhouses would you still classify as a powerhouse? They are good but many aren't the top dogs anymore.

Teams to talk about in the future:
2056 - Finally made Einstein this year after some rough showings in Atlanta.
2753 - This year may have been an off year but I have a hunch.
2775 - Any team that can come out and be 2 wins away from Einstein is ok in my book.
1323 - Expect them to come out after a Chairman's award soon, they are doing a lot of work in their area.
71 - The BEAST hungers, it has been 7 years since their last Championship win. 2007 was their last Einstein appearance. Watch out Midwest.
51 - Any team that takes a Hall of Fame team and merges it with a former World Champion scares me. Once 51 gets in their groove there will be no stopping them.
2619 - Everyone always talks about 2337 but 2619 is another 2008 rookie who has been even more consistent.
2337 - Has done some unique strategies but given a few years to really get into calling games and strategies they could be a contender. They have some dedicated mentors and sponsors and seem to be good at finding student's passion.
33 - IMHO, had a couple off years but came back with a vengeance this year. Having listened to Jim predict strategies and nail them I have no doubt in my mind this team is going to be aiming to bring home some new gold match their yellow soon.

And one wildcard that I have to throw out there, 397. They have been making great strides these last couple years and have recently gotten a new infusion of blood from 27, 67, and 548. If they can get past their issues relating to student recruitment (You would think with 5 trained recruiters as mentors we could get high school students no?) expect to see them come out of the gate strong. If they can't get their issues worked out expect them to flop.

(Sorry if my predictions seem rather MI-centric but you call what you know)