At WMR, 2054 won the Rookie All Star Award, but they were not planning on going the championships. One of our mentors went over to their team and asked if they would like to share our bus and hotel with us and they agreed. Both of our teams had a tremedous amount of fun on the bus ride down, the hotel and at the competion. Afterword, we traded email adresses with each other to be able to keep in contact and are also planning to do some workshop type activities over the summer together.
I suppose that if 1618 had any formal “friend” teams, it’d have to be 1293. While I’m not officially a 1293er these days, I tend to keep in touch (to the point that my user title on their message board is “The 1618er who never quite left”). Judging by the Billfred chants some of the older kids keep doing, I guess they don’t totally hate my guts out. Additionally, we’ve swapped parts and ideas over the course of the season. Our network grew a little bit when we drafted 1102 and 801 at Palmetto; though the teams might not have interacted too much on Saturday afternoon due to the hectic schedule, I hope at least the drivers had a chance to interact a bit more.
Personally, however, my list of friend teams is a little bit longer. If I’ve got friends on a team, odds are that I root for them (matches where my team faces theirs notwithstanding, but you know how that goes).
(Oh, and to put a spin on cheering for other teams, try cheering for teams that aren’t even at the regional. Barry Bonzack and I did it Saturday at Palmetto, aiming for the Florida teams with chants we remembered (SPAM, ComBBAT, Exploding Bacon, etc.), and it was pretty fun.)
ears perk up Billfred chants?
I’ll have to remember that.
My “alum team” has tried hard to establish relations with area teams. Since leaving them I have discovered lots of FVC teams, and of course, there’s all my NEMO connections - like Jenny says, “they’re all my teams” - where else but FIRST would you be able to meet people from all locations and walks of life? One of these years I’m going to come through with my promise to organize a summer mentor retreat so we can all become friends, no robot/competition/chaperoning duties involved! 
I would so take a bullet for anyone on team 469! MY HOMIES!!! And a shout out to my brothers in Staten Island (team 522) you guys rock!
SPAM’s sister team is 179 (SwampThing)… located about 40 minutes south of us, and we share sponsorships with 1523 (MARS) and 1842 (Twisted EGO.) A few SPAM alumni went off to UCF and helped start teams up there, including 1902 (Exploding Bacon.) Sadly, we lost our coolest mentor to a new team this year 1889 (HAZE)…but that just gives us another friend. And of course… each year we make new friends with our alliance partners, like 79 (Krunch) and 233 (PinK)!
The finals this year at the championship kept SPAM standing nearly the entire time. Florida teams stick together. Oink, Oink, Think-Pink, SwampThing!
…and we can’t forget our summer Mayhem buddies, down south…like 1251 and 108 (nothing better than switching our number signs during each other’s matches)
Yeah… Thunderillas forever 
A lot of people from 217/469/1114 are good friends with each other. We’re also pretty good friends with 27, team Rush. Nothing will ever beat the sweet danceoff at the wrap party =D
One of these years I’m going to come through with my promise to organize a summer mentor retreat so we can all become friends, no robot/competition/chaperoning duties involved!
I know a great beach resort that would be a fine place for a mentor retreat!!!
our team is still pretty shy with the whole meeting other teams and becoming friends with them, so as a team we don’t seem to have any other teams to talk to lol as “friends”. I myself made friends with team 854, 1535, and 781 this year, and now that the rest of the team has taken notice of the GP around during regionals, (although our number isn’t a rookie number, only two of us weren’t rookies, the teacher involved was even a rookie :D) my team seems now to show an interest in getting to know people and getting involved in the community a bit more. Unfournatly for us, we are the only team in our region. lol. Guess that means we are starting up some teams lol 
wish us luck!! and you can expect us to be much more social next year!!
Friends,
Over the past 12 years Team 47 has had the honor of getting to be friends with many teams – really, far too many to list without forgetting some.
Here are few examples of Friendships that without FIRST wouldn’t have happened.
Once upon a time there were 2 very competitive High Schools from the same city. To say that they disliked each other was an understatement, with years & years of bad blood authoring their history. Pontiac Central (47) vs.Pontiac Northern (65)
I’m sure many can relate to this kind of cross town rivalry.
FIRST teams from both schools have bridged this divide, with mutual respect – and are often seen cheering each other on. FIRST has proven to be the common bond pulling teams together instead of pushing them apart. A great moment indeed, when Ken Patton and the team aligned together with us to win a regional – a few year back. Go Huskies!
This year our team saved money by sharing a bus and hotel at Atlanta with Team 33 Killer Bees. I’m sure there was a little apprehension amongst the students at first, as neither had ever really “gotten to know” each other – The mentors and coaches had many years of experiences together while competing in FIRST and OCCRA.
I wasn’t able to ride the bus with them, but I was told that at the end of the trip the students had bonded well enough together that goodbye “hugs” were not uncommon.
Team 47 loves the Killer Bees, Jim Zontag, Chet, Jerry, and all of the rest.
12 years ago, Team 47 was mentored by one of the original FIRST teams from Kokomo, Indiana. Even though we were literally hundreds of miles apart, the Techno-Kats showed the Chiefs – how to do this the right way, and they’ll always be our role models. Andy Baker, Mark Koers, and all the others - Friends forever.
Throughout years some of the most fun we have had has been competing with and against “our friends” from great teams – 111 Wildstang (we think we love you) and 71 Beatty/Hammond (you guys never cease to amaze us), 27 Team Rush (proud to be pit neighbors throughout the past 12 years). Bill and Brian Beatty, the Nobles, Raul, Dan Green, Al, Denny, Kyle, Anthony, Jimmy – good times and good friends.
On a personal note – a long time ago on a very snowy night Team 88 TJ2 helped us find our way to Manchester for a Kickoff. Moe socks and good times ever since! You guys are “wicked” good friends and always will be.
Mike Aubry
Chief Delphi
As attested earlier, luckily for the teams at VCU, this isn’t a terribly huge issue at our regional. Despite it being a whopping 66 teams, most teams have several other teams they are friends with and cheer them on later. If people stop cheering, it’s typically because their voices are gone, and they can’t anymore. :rolleyes:
116 has strong relationships with a few other teams, namely 612, 1002, and 1885. 612 is our neighbor team, only about 20 minutes down the road from us. We mentored them their rookie year, but didn’t really have much student-to-student contact after that for a while. Last May though we did a demo with them at the Air & Space Museum, and some new friendships formed again. We’ve since run more demos with them, cheered for each other, gone to our Board of Supervisors together (and are going again), socialized, used their practice rack, went to Dave & Busters, and are planning more demos/activities.
1885 were our alliance partners at VCU this year, and were pitted just across the aisle from us at Championship. Each team kept checking up on the other through-out the event, and we helped each other whenever we needed it. These guys are a class-act team, and we really can’t wait until we can compete together again.
1002 had been coming to VCU for years, but we didn’t really become closely associated with them until we went down to their home regional of Peachtree in 2006. Our vex teams became very close, and the rest of the team made friends as well.
Throughout the years the Hammerheads have always been friends with other teams, but 226 formed a really close friendship with 1447 and 515 this year during our co-build. We call ourselves the Three Scrooges with 226 as Curly, 1447 as Larry, and 515 as Moe. We were cheering for each other, searching for tools through each other’s pits, and just hanging out at WMR so much that our pit partners wondered what was up and someone finally asked me. 226 went to a regional we weren’t competing at to help 515 out and we even had a student from 1447 come to Championships as an honorary Hammerhead.
We told everyone in Atlanta to go talk to one person from some other team, and I know lots of people exchanged emails and phone numbers. That’s what I love about FIRST, everyone is always looking to be friends with everyone else.
I personally know people on 515 and 1447 of course, and 75, 93, 201, 217, 245, 469, 470, 503, 1764… and I’m sure I’m forgetting someone.
I like this Challenge Beth… 226 will plan something for the Detroit area teams this summer!
In general, many of the Indiana teams are pretty close. Our team has helped to start many of the teams in the Indianapolis area, and we stay in contact with each other. Of perticular interest are 393, 829, 1529 (our sister school), and 1741. Other teams are 868, 1018, and 1024.
When we win regionals with other teams, we often get to know them better. This year, we met some great friends in 1730, 1555, 545, and 229. We couldn’t have hoped for better alliances.
During a match at the Midwest Regional in 2001, our team, with 71, 111, and 269, scored the highest score in the nation (known to us as the 710 match, video here). There will always be a special connection between us.
We host the IRI each year with teams 45 and 393, which is always a great experience.
A final team I would like to mention is the Pink Team (233). We’ve gotten to know these guys pretty well when you came to stay with us during the IRI. You guys are awesome!
48 and Team 379 the Girard Robocats have grown much closer together this season, both on the field and off, as we’ve shared a regional championship, a regional semifinal run, a spot in some offseason programming classes, a bus to toronto, and other positive experiences. Wonderful students and mentors.
48 and Team 2010 the Champion Lightning Bots will be forever linked by our Delphi co-sponsorship. Many 2010 mentors were former 48 mentors, and our kids get along really, really well.
Team 462 the Rambunctious Rams out of Mississippi were our original Delphi Packard sister team. We stay in close contact throughout the build, and we were overjoyed to hear of their double Chairman’s/Regional Winner victory in Louisiana. They’ve made steady progress with their program, and we up here in Warren couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments!
Team 276, the Chaney Mad Cows , have always had a place in our shop during the build season. Their infamous “rotary walker” design was developed and refined in our shop. We are starting to unite all the local teams under one umbrella designed to work together, share resources, and further expand FIRST in our region.
Team 47 - Chief Delphi - we thank you for giving us the fun pleasure of explaining to at least one person visiting our pits at each competition we attend, “No we’re not the team that runs the Chief Delphi forums. That’s FORTY-SEVEN!! We are FORTY-EIGHT, Delphi E.L.I.T.E., you know, the ugly stepsister team.” Geez, it seems like we’ve been doing that forever!
Team 45 - Thanks for hanging in there with 47 and 48 and 49 so long and keeping the Delphi pride alive. We’re still here!!! Where’s 46???
Team 378 - the Delphi Circuit Stompers - We always have a great time when we’re together. Go take that awesome double lift to Ra Cha Cha - you might find us there…who knows??? 1507 has a great bot too - bring them along for the ride.
Team 1038 the Thunderhawks were linked closely with Team 48 this year, both as allies in Pittsburgh and as opponents at Buckeye. They are a great bunch of people, most helpful, the best of sports, and some of their mentors know how to take some really cool pictures!
Team 291 CIA has always been a welcome partner of 48 at the regionals we attend together, and they were a huge reason why we hung up our first regional championship banner this season.
Teams 120 and 1386 are two wonderful Northeast Ohio teams who have always supported us with their kind words. They’ve been regulars at our pre-ship event in February.
48 also loves Canada and has supported the Canadian Regional/GTR since its inception in 2002. I won’t mention any specific team names, but Mark Breadner, Steve Warren, Vance Scott, Karen Rosenthal, and all the other great Canadian FIRST people - all of them have always extended their Canadian hospitality to us as hosts and ambassadors when we’ve been up there to visit. It seems we always find the most time to hang out with rookie teams at the GTR, so a shout out to all the great kids and mentors we’ve met and worked with while up North.
PoJo <3 MORT
Mort has helped team 1302 from the beginning THANKS
they always help us out…even when we are against each other in the elimination rounds (twice!)
outside of robotics we used to have pojo n mort movie nites with a few kids from each team i even remember when i was a freshman we left stuff outside ur school for when u guys got back from georgia to suprise you lol
1676
my team leader and i went to give the pioneers a presentation about FIRST when they were first starting out and gave them a couple pointers…now they have way more resourses n mentors than we do n they always offer a helping hand back
our new friends are 354 the G-House pirates
they were our alliance partners in NYC '07 we had dinner with them in Atlanta and we were in Archemides together so we helped each other out when we had the chance…hopefully we’ll get to work with them again in the nyc regional next year for a back to back win 
Team 100 is like a second team to me. Last year, when my team wasn’t able to go to the Championship, team 100 was gracious enough to allow me to share a hotel room with them, since I was not old enough at the time. I had a great time with them and the treated me as if I was on the team. (I even got a famous 100 hat)
This year was no different. We allied with them at SVR, and had a blast making it to the semi’s. 2 weeks later, in Davis, my teams alliance was out after the quaterfinals, and so right away I was cheering all out for team 100. And wouldn’t you know it, they won! And by winning, they qualify for the championship again.
At championship this year, I was finally allowed to check into my own room, so I went with my teams programmer and our animator to watch the competition. And it just so happened that team 100 was staying at the same hotel with us. We hung out with them a lot, we ate dinner with their team every night, played card games and tron until past midnight and had a lot of fun in general. Our programmer worked with theirs to try and get their camera to work (which never did 
), and I gave them advise on how to eliminate their drive train bouncing problem (which didn’t end up helping too much, but then Andy Baker was gracious enough to lend us some 8" omni wheels, which helped immensly. Thanks you Mr. Baker!)
To top it off, they gave us 114 people in atlanta all 100 hats and shirts, which we wore proudly. They also gave us team social tickets, which saved me 45 bucks
Thank you 100 for making my FIRST experience even better!
Mike C.
I don’t know about our whole team but overall it is easier for us to connect with ourselves so a team that would be our pals about 30 miles away in.
Yes you guys from C.I.A.
And i personally have a friend from across the state and into another And on here her name is spiffizle
Sorry about any spelling errors
I think that 1547 as a whole team is the closest with 296. The past 2 years at GTR we’ve had a social with them and we all stay in close contact with each other. A lot of the girls on the team are now really good friends with the guys on 296. 1547 also has good terms with 188 as they have let us use their practice field before and offered us suggestions for this years robot. We also have really close contacts with Karthik and 1114. Karthik’s always there for us when we need help and we even cheer “WE LOVE YOU KARTHIK” at competitions.
As for individual people, myself and some other girls on the team are close with 1503 as Spartonics let 4 other girls on 1547 bus down to Atlanta with them. I have a lot of friends in FIRST but of all the teams, I’m closest with 237. I can’t thank TRIBE enough for letting me stay with them in Atlanta this year and for how much all of them took care of me. Love you guys!
I’d say that one of the biggest things people in FIRST need to realize is that you need to cheer at competitions to have more fun. The happier and more spirited your team is, the more people are going to be willing to come up and talk to you. If your team just sits in the stands, they won’t have fun and nobody else will want to come up and talk to them. FIRST always says its not just about the robot and its true. There’s a whole other side to FIRST and the social aspect is a big part of it. Try getting your team to stand up for matches and cheer. It’ll make a big difference.
We in 2230 are quite lucky, I guess.
We learn in a school that students come to school to learn(and now some come just for FIRST…more or less)from all around the country.
The school is in Herzliya, but I’m from Ra’anana, home of 1577 - Steampunks, who are really close to my house and I pay vists to them allot. They helped us allot in the begining and we start creating connections and we are hoping that we will be able to continue ,aking stronger connections with them and mabye even teaming up for the next season(as in planning to be together in the finals).
Another team is 1947 - Black Knight Robotics from Hedera. They helped us have a taste of what the elimination rounds are and we thank them everytime for the opportunity. One of our girls in our team lives there and she meets them occasionaly so we’re hoping to tag with them too.
Of course we keep in touch as much as we can with other teams, but frankly it’s usually for aid issues or for other projects we’re doing(like our magazine[soon to be posted] which somtimes requires the interviewing of some teams). Hopefully we’ll be able to get more friend teams.
I’d have to say that there is a definite bond between all of the Florida teams. It was definitely apparent and amazing at the Las Vegas Regional with the start of the “F-L-O-R-I-D-A!” cheer. And at the Championship, we were all cheering on both 1902, 233, and 179 on Einstein. Who can resist an “Oink, Oink! BOOM!”?