I’ve been wondering about this for a while. This is my first year, so I’m still learning how FIRST operates. Is there a requirement of some sorts that teams must meet to compete in nationals?
I know that my team, 818, won the All-Star Rookie award three times last year (at both regionals and nationals). Do awards like that guarantee a trip to nationals?
You can find the official information here:
http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/res_art9.htm
From what you’ve said, your team doesn’t qualify as three top rookie seeds gives you only 3 points. You need five to qualify. However, last year there were slots left open because teams who were already qualified won “reserved slots” like those for Regional winners. Those slots were made available to all teams just before Nationals. No guarantees this will happen though.
Keep waiting and watching and fund raising. Better yet, win your events.