Regional Championship or Regional Chairmans?

[Matt D]

I personally would prefer to win the Chairman's Award. I've been on a team that has excelled on and off the field so I've already experienced both. This year, I personally headed up mentoring two teams 1031 and 1422. I also worked on the community service aspect of the team helping with a clothes drive and a bag lunch for day workers thing. I also worked on the presentation aspect, but this is only a minor part (even though I spent more time on it). One of the coolest things at Sacramento this year was having our mentor, Steve Kyramarios, win the Woodie Flowers Award, even though we won the regional. The second coolest thing (at least to me) was tying the national high score (at that time we thought we beat it.)

These are my experiences. I'm not sure about the rest of the team.

[Michelle 236]

personally the regional chairman's award would make me happier, but it's definately a close call

the CA means a little more to me because another girl and I are the authors and i know that we, along with the rest of the team put a lot of work into it all year long. i think the chairman's award appeals more to the altruistic side of people and I think it honors the team on a more personal level.

but then again, if i was a driver i might say being a regional champion would make me happier, i guess it just depends on what you devote most of your time to on the team

[StephLee]

I voted regional chairman's, because our team has already won one regional championship. I'd love to see all our hard work rewarded on both ends of the deal.

[Alexa Stott]

I'm really one the fence with this one. We won both this season, and with the Chairman's, it was really nice to be rewarded for all efforts to help bring FIRST to many different high schools.

However, when going out into your community, whether it's for sponsorship or just to spread the word on your team, a championship always looks better in that sense. People outside of FIRST don't really know what Chairman's really is, and often, there is not enough time in your short, minute long sales pitch to explain it to them.

To me, winning the Chairman's was a truly amazing experience because it not only rewarded work that we had done that season, but all the time and energy students from years before put into our team.

[KelliV]

I have been on a team that has won The Championship, a few regionals, two Regional Chairman's and the Championship Chairman's. My choice is Chairman's hands down.

Why?

A championship is nice at any level but, like it or not, it is the product of the teams that work on the robot itself, not the other teams that make up the program like marketing, video, etc.
Chairman's is something that can be shared by everyone on a team, past and present. It doesn’t matter if you were on the team just to hand out buttons or had your hand inside the robot 24/7. Chairman’s is for more than your team members, it is for your mentors, alumni, school, community, and parents. It is for everyone that helped you on your way. I was proud to go in front of my old high school at our assembly and tell all 2000 or so people in those stands that they helped us win. I hope that everyone someday gets the experience of winning the Chairman’s Award, it is one of the best you will ever have.