It’s one of those questions that nobody likes to ask, but invariably comes up: What teams aren’t competing in FRC this year?
South Carolina has fared relatively well, moreso for those who enjoy the bigger picture. Five teams out of 26 last year aren’t returning (415, 507, 1320, 1715, 1961), but I know for a fact that most of them are involved in FVC on some level or another. (Additionally, we’ve gained three rookies, bringing us to 24 for 2007.)
How did your state or area fare?
To put it this way, what teams (that I know about from Maryland) haven’t competed in a while?
#53 (Team Illusion), #1131 (A Hagerstown-based team). Whatever happened to them?
To think through teams that have been at Chesapeakes through the years…there are a number of PA teams that I haven’t seen around, like #651 (Yo Bot) which did pretty good through the years.
#1791 and #1597 appear to not be involved this year, despite both bringing their own senses of style to the regional (and winning a couple awards).
Team 42 hasn’t registered for any competitions yet, which is a shame because they have one of the best numbers out there.
And the one rookie registered for the Granite State regional is from Maine…so it looks like NH lost teams. 
Looking over the information for Connecticut, I see six rookie FRC teams to bring the total teams to 33. Missing from this year’s list are teams 19, 38, 546, and 1784.
I know 972 is not competing this year in the San Jose area. Don’t know about Worcester.
North Carolina has seven teams now which is +1 from last year. A veteran team (837) that didn’t compete last year has returned, one team (926) didn’t return this year, and we have one new rookie team. (2108)
From what i hear 1257 from Scotch Plains NJ isn’t going to be competing this year or any in the near future.
INFIRST is losing 1272 and 1327 for this season, they may both come back in a year or two, so I hear.
Indiana is doing well. This isn’t exactly right, Kyle*, as 1327 is in. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development has put together a grant to help out all of the teams.
S-Bots (1327) are participating.
Tyrannikal Mechanikal (1272) is sitting out this year.
3 new teams are starting:
2160 is a girls-focused team sponsored by Rolls-Royce, IUPUI and Indianapolis Schools. This team will compete at the Boilermaker Regional.
2171 is a new team from Crown Point HS (up by Chicago). They will also attend the Boilermaker Regional.
2197 is a new team from New Prairie HS, in the northern portion of Indiana. They will be competing at West Michigan Regional.
So… Indiana went +2 this year to be at 26 teams. One team is sitting out while 3 have started.
Good luck to all,
Andy B.
Virginia fell to 54 teams this year, with 7 rookie teams. Virginia has been in the middle to upper 50s for a few years now, gaining roughly about as many as we have lost. The most notable loss this year was 388, one of Virginia’s most successful teams (having won a RCA, EI, and 2 Regional Championships at VCU).
Minnesota didn’t lose either of the two teams it had last year. It experienced a huge increase of teams though, from 2 to 16! It was a big year of growth for Minnesota FIRST, and an exciting one.
Arizona lost rookie team 1978, but gained 5 new teams. I think one of the teams is from a high school with only 60 kids! I hope we’re approaching enough teams to start holding off season events here.
It looked like we were going to lose a few for a while, but they popped up on Thursday.
It looks like team 752 isn’t around anymore. Anyone know why? (I would guess lack of funding as a general rule…)
California has picked up 25 new teams, but I’m unsure how many were lost. I know 2 Central NorCal teams didn’t sign up, 814 (Napa) and 1938 (Stockton).
PA currenly stands at 40 FRC teams
5 rookies:
2051 & 2118 from the Pittsburgh Area
2223, 2229, & 2234 from the Philly Area
Participated in 2006 and not participating this year (with one or two others scratching to meet payment deadline):
225, 528, 1113
Maryland, as of today, has 24 FRC teams. Numbers may change as teams trying to get last minute funding.
Participated in 2006, but has not signed up for 2007:
1449-Williamsport.
2 rookies:
2132 (Baltimore City)Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High
2199 (Carroll County)Liberty High
There were 2 other rookies on the list who have dropped out as individual teams. One (all girls-Western High in Baltimore City, has joined 1893-Poly). Another Baltimore City team-Carver- has decided to wait until next year.
Team 1980-Aberdeen is a new team, but received a second year number since they were part of another team last year.
528 has just merged with 341. We lost our 4 advisors and 2 major sponsers 
So 1980 is a splinter team from 1719 or 1727, I presume.
So they aren’t entirely new, they have a robot and they already competed/won one offseason event already (I forget if they competed at Ramp Riot or Brunswick Battle (whatever the name of the competition that Team 25 hosts)
Have you found anything about whatever happened to Team 53? All of the Gemstone staff here at Maryland knew about it and they thought that just because the Gemstone team left that the team just collapsed. That probably is not the main thing. Are they trying to get money or mentors? Have they moved on to VEX? Or have the professional mentors concentrated efforts on building up 1195?
And wow! I can’t believe how FIRST has grown in Maryland. 24 teams? Why not make Chesapeake a 2-field regional with all the growth (To get it back to the Jet-Lag Reputation). Especially in the city that O’Malley was mayor of before he became governor-elect. (He may be a FIRST supporter and hope we get FRC teams in as many high schools as possible).
Was there any kind of Baltimore-City ordinance encouraging FRC growth by any chance?
The competition hosted by Team 25 is called Brunswick Eruption.