FIRST FCC: A Sport or Not?

[anna~marie]

At MHS we get varsity letters for FIRST.
That doesn't mean it's a sport. In fact our school recongizes it as an activity.
However, my choir, the debate team, the band....etc all get letters even though they aren't sports

[santosh]

The more and more I think about it, the more and more I consider FIRST a sport. This is simply by comparing it to racing (if you consider it a sport, I do). They spend time building and working on cars. they have a driver and a pit crew.
I know the driver must be pretty strong and have a lot of stamina to drive. A FIRST driver needs to last roughly 2 minutes. This is not what I consider a Le Mans 24 hour race.
Howver close it may be to NASCAR or F1 racing, I still don't fully think of it as a sport. I know this may seem like an overly stated statement. But FIRST is much more than a sport and the robot. You have to raise funds, you have a business like setup with leaders for most sub groups, you have mentoring, and outreach.
However it is still much less than a sport in that there is nowhere near the amount of physical exertion involvd. Come on, you cut, drill, mill, code, solder, make crimps, and other things like that. I don't consider that up to the physical exertion needed to smash a homerun out of the park or tackle a 230 lb. Bus, or slam dunk over someone.
So I guess this post was pretty confusing and contradicts itself a bit, but all in all, I don't fully consider FIRST Robotics a sport.

[Lil' Lavery]

Let's compare one of the least physically demanding of all sports (and yes, it's a sport, but no, football/baseball/etc. all beat it in terms of physical standards needed to play), Band. The Herndon High School Marching Band logs 108 hours of practice before school even starts, minimum (the freshmen, section leaders, and drum line each start a week earlier). Then you have during school rehersals, after-school rehersals, football games, saturday practices, and competitions on top of that. During the 1st quarter of school, the Marching Band easily logs as many hours as you do in FIRST all year (pre-season, build, competition, and post-season).
No, FIRST is NOT a sport. It's a game, yes. It's a competition, yes. Does it demand some physical ability and/or coordination, yes. But it is not on par with any real sports.

[PAR_WIG1350]

Originally Posted by InfernoX14

Sailing is a sport. How physically demanding is that? It takes a few pulling of ropes that aren't 130 pounds.

the ropes might not weigh that much, but what ever is on the other end might.

[Akash Rastogi]

Wow thread revival....

[Elgin Clock]

No one DID ever answer my question as to what the heck FCC stood for.
I'm thinking it was a typo for FRC maybe?

(Oh, and the sad thing was I didn't realize this thread was old until I saw some old school FIRSTers' pics who had posted, & looked at the date since I know they haven't been around for a while.)
"You know you've been involved in FIRST too long when..." moment much? lol

[JesseK]

Sports involve cardiac exertion, where blood gets pumping and the mind has to focus in spite of the limbs screaming for no more. Thus, FRC isn't a sport. If anything the stress of it can take years off of our lives should we over involve ourselves. It also cannot replace a regular workout to keep one's health in check like most sports can. It's definitely something beyond a "club competition", but sport it is not.

I'd recommend anyone who's considering it to get a class ring with the FIRST logo on it. My varsity jacket from high school football has been gathering dust in my closet since my freshman year of college, yet I'm out of college 4 years now and wear my college class ring several times a week.

[ebarker]

Originally Posted by JesseK

Sports involve cardiac exertion, where blood gets pumping and the mind has to focus in spite of the limbs screaming for no more.

The 1st few years I did FIRST I lost over 40 lbs. I went from being quite overweight to pretty good shape. My activity level was so high I was eating everything in sight. In 2007 when the Chairman's photo was being shot on the competition floor I remember my pants barely wanted to stay up from some much exertion and weight loss. And my legs were absolutely killing me from all the running around.

When I'm not doing FIRST I'm gaining weight like a washed up retired football player. When doing FIRST I can barely keep any weight on. And if you do robotics and team activities all year long then there isn't any chance to regain the weight.

Combined with a healthy diet and exercise, FIRST is a perfect complement to a weight loss plan !

While not strictly in the same class as cross country or greco roman wrestling FIRST can be very physically demanding.

A co-worker of mine is a member of NASCAR and is a pit crew member. That is very demanding also !

[JackG]

FWIW, I've been playing chess for a number of years now. Every now and then some discussion about whether chess is a sport pops up in the chess community. Even though chess has been on ESPN (Kasparov vs X3DFritz), there are still very few who would actually consider chess a sport.

Soooo, let's remember that FIRST isn't the only competition trying to gain some momentum and gain some publicity. But calling it a sport is not a good way to do that. Anyone who defines FIRST as a sport is opening up a can of worms for stuff like chess to be considered a sport. And that's an argument that can't really be won.

[EricH]

Originally Posted by JackG

FWIW, I've been playing chess for a number of years now. Every now and then some discussion about whether chess is a sport pops up in the chess community. Even though chess has been on ESPN (Kasparov vs X3DFritz), there are still very few who would actually consider chess a sport.

Soooo, let's remember that FIRST isn't the only competition trying to gain some momentum and gain some publicity. But calling it a sport is not a good way to do that. Anyone who defines FIRST as a sport is opening up a can of worms for stuff like chess to be considered a sport. And that's an argument that can't really be won.

Poker is on ESPN more than Chess is. It still isn't a sport.

Or rather, if poker is a sport, with little to no physical exertion, then can you tell me why FIRST isn't a sport?

[Debbie]

Team 1023 made this video to convince our school to allow us to give varsity letters. We compared FIRST to sports in it. I do feel it fits the dictionary definition of a sport!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8-CVg0QAyg

[vhcook]

It's a sport. Here's how I get there:

Horse racing is a group of sports in which a team of people attempt to pair an optimally designed (or bred, if you prefer) horse with a good driver (jockey).

Horse and carriage racing is a group of sports (harness racing, or if you go back a bit farther, chariot racing). To compete you need to have an optimally designed horse and carriage, and a good driver.

Car racing is a group of sports. For this we get to dispense with the horse, and the carriage gets a bit more complicated. You still need good design, and good driver, and you add in a pit crew to make adjustments during breaks in play (i.e. pit stops) for the types of car racing that last long enough to have them. The people designing the cars, building the cars, maintaining the cars, and driving the cars are all considered part of the team.

If you look at FIRST, it looks a lot like car racing (particularly in 2008 ). We have a designed and constructed vehicle, a driver, a pit crew, and the intervals between matches are very much like pit stops. We even have the same sponsorship issues, if on a different scale.

As a side note, the International Olympic Committee recognizes both chess and billiards as sports. Non-Olympic, sure, but so is baseball.

[Cody Carey]

I believe that first is a club, it is a game, it is a competition, and it is a learning experience, but it is not a sport. Go into a sport store... Will you find and ounce of extruded aluminum, or maybe a speed controller... no, you won't. Also, I don't know about you, but I'm winded after a running a city block, my mile time was 7:40, and I can't do more that 8 pull-ups anymore. I am not an athlete, and I am not in a sport.

More than once, I have had to lift the robot, but I lift it for maybe 5 seconds at a time, and maybe once every 5 minutes (at a hectic time). Weight lifters do this for hours on end, and with far heavier weights than 120 lbs, especially since the 120 lbs is usually shared between 3 or more people. I have also had to make a "mad dash" to get to my driver station on time... but as anyone who has done this while pulling a robot through a crowd can attest to, my maximum speed was 5 miles an hour, hardly a brisk pace. Once again, I am not an athlete, and I am not in a sport.



Another thing. If my friends all of the sudden make a “fantasy walking league”, does that make walking a sport?



I have a feeling that a lot of us here in FIRST only want to consider this a sport so that we can check the little box on a survey that says “I Participate in a high-school athletics program." And pat ourselves on the back for being "just as good" as the football, or basketball players. I won't hold myself to those standards, because I don’t play in a sport, and I am not an athlete. Truth is... We, being children of FIRST, have a much better chance of succeeding in life while doing what we want to be doing than a football player does. Tell me a sport that 3 teams have to band together to win... show me a sport that the athletes are as friendly with their opponents as they are their allies.



And one last point... is this web page... It gives a brief history of sports.

http://fermi.univr.it/cla/webclass/Facchinetti/motorie/02-03/origin_of_sports.htm

I am convinced that FIRST is wholly different from a sport... Convince me otherwise.

ORIGINALLY HERE

[Graham Donaldson]

OK, so I guess I needed to think the poll through a little more. So, we now have two options. I don't know how many of you guys would like the idea (I don't want to be yelled at for making threads with similar topics), but the first option is to make a thread like this, except v2., with more options. Or we can leave it like this. Suggestions? (I hate not being a mod on forums and not being able to delete threads when you don't want them, even if they're only my own.)

[JJG13]

FIRST is not a sport. For something to be a sport IMO it has to:

1. Be physically strenuous. This means that you have to work out to remain competitive in it. (Lugging batteries around does not count).
2. The most compicated tool used is a simple machine.

Originally Posted by Dictionary.com

A simple device, such as a lever, pulley, or inclined plane; a machine without moving parts

In other words no FIRST or racecars.
3. There has to be direct competition between two or more PEOPLE. In other words no horse races and no racing against the clock.
4. Scoring can't be subjective. In other words figure skating and gymnastics aren't sports while baseball, football, and soccer are.