FIRST Robotics as a sport

[BGiraud]

My Principal has agreed to support making our robotics program recognized as a sport. This will help us raise it to new levels. I Just need to convince the Board of Education.
I need evidence of other districts that have done this. Can someone please put me on the trail of this information. If all I can get is a list of advisors that get stipends at the coaches level, or actual coaches stipends, that’s ok for a start.
Please advise.

Are there any other threads that discuss the merits of this? If not, should we discuss it here?

[mizscience]

Here are some similar threads:

Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3
Thread 4
Thread 5

There are many more - just search CD for "varsity"

[BobC]

Originally Posted by BGiraud

My Principal has agreed to support making our robotics program recognized as a sport. This will help us raise it to new levels. I Just need to convince the Board of Education.
I need evidence of other districts that have done this. Can someone please put me on the trail of this information. If all I can get is a list of advisors that get stipends at the coaches level, or actual coaches stipends, that’s ok for a start.
Please advise.

Are there any other threads that discuss the merits of this? If not, should we discuss it here?

Do you think your principal will let you start a poker team. They play poker almost everyday on the biggest tv sports network in the world. So poker must be a sport. Also in the early years FIRST Robotics was on ESPN I have been told. LOL

[santosh]

Hey, FIRST was on this year. One of the winners of Championships was on Cold Pizza.

[nparikh]

I know that our team had championed for many years to be considered a school 'team' and not a 'club'. Fortunately, a few years back the Board approved such a decision and our coaches now get paid with a stipend on par with that of sports coaches--[may it be noted that not all sports coaches get paid the same albeit ]

[Gabe]

Citing Dictionary.com:
Sport: diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.

I don't see why robotics shouldn't be considered a sport.

[nuggetsyl]

if nascar is a sport then so is this

[whytheheckme]

Originally Posted by nuggetsyl

if nascar is a sport then so is this

Right! Whats so special about a bunch of cars racing around in a circle burning off gas and tires? All that matters is the last lap anyway!

Robots on the other hand... The whole two minutes count, and it changes every time. AND, everyone is involved! And its a learning experience. Much better than driving cars (which we do at least twice a day to get to robotics...)

Jacob Komar

[Barry Bonzack]

Students gain Teamwork skills among many other abillities that can be applied to later life. Students work hard. We practice, we sweat, we concentrate, we wear ourselves down. We function as one unit to achieve an overall goal, and perhaps even bring home a trophy. Just because we don't play "home games" I cannot see why FIRST would not be considered a sport.

[Tim Arnold]

I asked a friend about this yesterday, and their comment was

If you don't loose weight or gain muscle playing, its not a sport

I personally don't care either way, but if Nascar is considered a sport, I would think FIRST is at, or exceeds, its qualification for 'sport' status.

[Brandon Holley]

ESPN used to have full coverage of nationals when they were back in Disney. I remember digging through some of MORTs old videos and watching the 1999 Nationals with the ESPN graphics and everything (they even showed team numbers and sponsors)...good times

[Jaine Perotti]

Originally Posted by Tim Arnold

I asked a friend about this yesterday, and their comment was

I personally don't care either way, but if Nascar is considered a sport, I would think FIRST is at, or exceeds, its qualification for 'sport' status.

I think your friend might be confusing "sports" with "athletics".

A sport, like someone said before, is something a person does for personal enjoyment and recreation (including NASCAR racing, poker tournaments, and yes, FIRST Robotics), in a way which is also competitive (although it doesn't have to be). Athletics are a type of sport, but the sport must involve physical activity/skill to fall under this classification.

So, all athletics are sports, but not all sports are athletics.

[JaneYoung]

This thread was a discussion regarding stipends that occurred this summer.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...hlight=stipend

My take on it is that we are all over the map in this area with a minority of our school advisors receiving stipends and those that do, vary in amounts paid.

Good luck with this.
Jane

EDIT: this is from the FIRST website.
http://www.usfirst.org/what/frc/default.aspx?id=366 and Dean Kamen had some comments to make about FIRST being a part of the 21st century sports culture in his speech at Kick Off as well.

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by BurningQuestion

A sport, like someone said before, is something a person does for personal enjoyment and recreation...

There's a quote that's commonly associated with Ernest Hemingway that goes, "There are but three true sports--bullfighting, mountain climbing, and motor-racing. The rest are merely games." Just a thought.

Also, ESPN stands for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. So if something is shown on ESPN, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's a sport-- it could just be entertainment, per the name.

I am completely behind the idea that FIRST needs to be as culturally significant as professional sports.