This year's rookies

[StephLee]

Our team is a rookie this year, and I was wondering what all the veteran teams thought of this year's rookies. How did they(we) perform compared to the general expectations for rookies, who do you think were the most promising rookies, etc.

[E. Wood]

Personally, I think any rookie team that made a robot and got it shipped on time did a wonderful job. Being a rookie myself (same team as steph) i know just how hard it was to do this. But i noticed at the chesapeake regional that some rookie teams (1507, 1524....) seemed to be more like veterans than rookies.

[EricH]

I've seen the whole range. LA: two rookies, almost behind each other in the pits. 1515 was in the finals and one of the best rookie teams (as was 1622). On the other hand, 1697 needed help quite often. Yes, they drove. They even scored twice--under the goal. But they kept having technical problems-anything from a wheel being lower than its counterpart to having a drive wheel fall off during a match. They will return. My point? ALL rookies have the same problems, just some have more than others. ALL gain experience. Some will become champions rapidly (980 comes to mind-4th year team and winning regionals since last year, maybe before). Others will just grind along for years. But its not about arriving, its about the journey.

[Koko Ed]

We had an amazing group of rookies at FLR. Particularly Rolling Thunder which is in postion to be a significant player in all of FIRST.

[Mirza95vx]

There are so many great rookies. It has been an amazing first FIRST year for me.
1559 is an amazing team Wish you guys were going to natz with us.
1596 also another great team.
1547 Our Waldo girls we love you guys r the best

Too many more

Really impressive and so inspiring.

[Chris Sturrock]

way too many good rookies.

1511, you guys are great. that last match in the GTA was insane!
1559, awesome looking robot, great endeffector design, great driving. I hope to get to play against you next season.
1680 (our sister team)
and all the many others out there...

[Kims Robot]

I know my team number says rookie, but as many know already I am not. This year, I am paticularly impressed with the amazing caliber of the rookie teams.

As said already, any rookie who ships a robot (complete or not) is a winning team. As long as the kids get something out of it, and the program will continue... its amazing.

But looking around at all of the rookie teams across the nation this year, there are so many that have competed and done very very well. As Ed said... FLRC would not have been the same without the rookies. There were at least 3 Rookies in the top 8. Several rookie teams have helped win regionals. All of the rookie teams that have recieved the RAS award have done something truely incredible. Many rookies are going to multiple regionals, and winning multiple awards.

While the awards and the standings are not the true meaning of FIRST, they are a testament to how amazing our rookies are this year.

I know a lot of this can be attributed to the shear wealth of knowledge that is out there, and so many mentoring teams, and people that have been on teams starting new teams. FIRST is growing in leaps and bounds, and this years rookies are truely something to be proud of I know I am certainly amazed at my kids and our whole team. Never did I dream a rookie team could do this well!

Congrats to all the amazing rookie teams out there... 1559, 1547, 1567, 1509 (our partners!), 1590, and all the other great rookie teams of 2005!!!

(Oh yeah, and thanks for the nod Ed! and all our other fans ;-))

[thoughtful]

Watching some of those matches, i thought that the rookies stood up to the challenge very well. They pushed, capped and made very smart plays. Any team that took part in FIRST; practiced GP; came up with a design and tried to implement it, is a winner. This year's rookies did much more than that, many of them had awesome robots, they were willing to work through problems and most of all they were thankful for having the oppurunity of being a "FIRSTier".

Some rookies that stick out in my mind are: 1511, 1503, 1547 and all the other great teams of this magnificient year. Something tells me that you, the rookies, still have some surprises under your sleeve.

[Ian Curtis]

1519 was the best rookie team I saw (of course I only went to one regional) There robot was definitely complex enough to be a third year team. And it worked (always a plus). I don't think I ever saw them not compete due to a robot failure and I saw them cap three tetras on the center goal . Not very many veterans did that (but many thought it would be impossible). Yay for Rookies raising the bar!

[Keith Chester]

When you're talking to the coach of a rookie team you mentored tell you about how he's thinking of quitting his esteemed position of football coach to dedicate more time to his team? You hear something.

When he tells you his rich and spoiled kids, who were overly competitive, by the end of the first day was running to their opponents to offer help in fixing their robot and shaking their hands after losing a match? You realize something.

When he tells you that even though the robot spent its first day barely getting by, that every single member of his team still has unparalleled excitement and not a single one gave up hope? You catch a hint of something.

When he tells you about how, when telling his team that while they may not get a chance to go to nationals, if the opportunity arose (which it did), who would be willing to fundraise and spend the enormous amount of money required to go to nationals, and had every single hand raise? You see something.

When this entire team comes up to you when you pass by their pits and congratulates you on a great bot that knocked them out of the running, thanks you for all the help you gave them, and tells you that if you have any projects to help FIRST in ANYWAY they will be there? You know something.

That something?

That FIRST is working, still alive amongst the rookie teams. And that, no matter what happens now, there will be another team with the true ideals of FIRST, working to spread it amongst other schools.

While I talked mostly about one team, I met a few rookie teams like this. They have the right idea. Rookie teams like this make any observor say that rookies this year are an outstanding success.

[dangerousdave]

There were several good rookies at the Peachtree Regional , among them 1611 & 1648. Team 1648, Grady High & Turner Broadcasting, almost won the competition with 832 & 1102 but 1648 did win the Rookie All Star. They have a very simple and consistent robot with a great autonomous mode and deserve to be at the Championship's in their first year! Dave

[JamesBrown]

As a rookie this year The one thing that impressed me the most was how well the rookies worked together. At UTC all the rookie teams definitly got to know each other. When ever a rookie team won an award the other quickly went to the aisle to congratulate them. I dont think any of the rookie teams had every thing they needed but any thing we were missing we quickly got it usually from another rookie team, every one seemed to fit in and caught on quickly

[MattB703]

We were lucky enough to be the #5 seed alliance captains at the Greater Toronto Regional. We chose 2 rookies as our partners (1596 and 1680). We had a great alliance and were defeated by another alliance who also had a great rookie team (1511). I think this year's crop of rookies are incredible.

[Starke]

With my experience with rookies at FLR:

-They performed just as well as many of the veteran teams did
-They knew the game and strategy just as well as most of the veterans
-It seems that they were well prepared, many of them having success

This brings another good point. The successfulness of the rookies came partly from the helpfulness of the veterans. I know that many veteran teams helped out rookies this year. That really shows what FIRST is all about.

Some rookies to my knowledge with success: 1567 (very simple and effective design), 1559 (performed as well as many veterans with a great design), 1511 (winning Toronto Regional), and many others.

Congratulations to all the rookies!

[dmurdz]

Congrats to both 1507 and 1524 for excellent showings in Maryland at the Chesapeake Resgional.