Posted on the FRC Blog, 3/25/15: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-award-error-at-unh-district-event
Award Error at UNH District Event
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Blog Date: **Wednesday, March 25, 2015 - 10:35
We learned Monday that we made an error with the awards at the UNH District event last weekend. Per *Section 7.4.2.3 *of the FRC Admin manual, teams are only able to win the Chairman’s Award, Engineering Inspiration Award, and Rookie All Star Award once per season at the District event level. However, Team 811, The Cardinals, from Nashua, New Hampshire, USA, was presented with the Engineering Inspiration Award for the second time this season, having already been presented with the same award at their Week 1 event. They should not have been considered for the Engineering Inspiration Award at this second event.
I am very sorry for this mistake. We have a system in place that gives Judges access to prior awards won by teams at each event, but it apparently was not used in this instance. I have the greatest respect for our Judges. They have extraordinarily difficult jobs, with many rules to keep track of that they don’t necessarily ‘live with’ year-round as we at *FIRST *HQ do. It is our responsibility, at *FIRST *HQ, to do all we can to make sure the rules are clear and all volunteers are properly trained in their responsibilities. We are reviewing this rule with our Judge Advisors on the Judge Advisor call tonight, sending an email blast to all Judge Advisor about this, and strengthening our annual training in this particular area. This particular issue is also likely to become a cautionary tale, retold over the years, as an easily-remembered example of what can happen if the rules are not carefully applied. While this doesn’t eliminate the chance of recurrence, I expect it will help reduce it.
In working with the Judges at the event, we have determined that Team 2648, Infinite Loop, of Oakland, Maine, USA, should have been presented with the Engineering Inspiration Award instead of Team 811. So, we are declaring 2648 as the official Engineering Inspiration Award recipient for the event. We are adjusting our records to show this, and making sure it displays properly on our web pages. In all respects, 2648 is the official winner of this award. I would encourage everyone to think of them in this way. Had we not made the error, they would have been announced as the winner at the event, and received all the accolades due them for that very significant accomplishment.
From a District points perspective, Team 2648 will earn the 8 points associated with the award. As this was our mistake, and to provide some level of compensation, we are also allowing Team 811 to keep the 8 points associated with the decision that was made during the event itself. Team 2648 will be sent the appropriate trophies and medals, and Team 811 can keep those already presented them.
Both Team 811 and Team 2648 are great teams, with long histories of accomplishments – Team 2648 even having won the Chairman’s Award at an earlier event this season – and I am very happy they are part of the *FIRST *family. Once again, I am sorry for our mistake.
Frank