Hello Ontario FRC friends,
FRC4903 (Vincent Massey Mustangs, Windsor, Ontario) will not be running this year. It was the decision of the teacher mentors not to participate in the FRC competition this season.
As a fellow mentor and parent with this team, we greatly appreciate all of the time and sacrifice that this group of teachers has made for our kids over the past years. We were one of the only teams in the area to field a team in the 2022 COVID season and despite all of the difficulty that we went through just to be able to meet, that group of teachers gave our kids a school activity to be part of when there was literally nothing else available. It gave the kids a normal activity to be part of in a high school experience that was far from normal.
I also appreciate that they have given me a place to go play robots for the past several years as well!
This may be a one-year hiatus, or it may be longer, we do not know at this time, but 4903 will not be registered this year.
As one door closes, another opens.
We are happy to announce to the community that many of the mentors and students of 4903 have reformed as South Windsor Community Robotics FRC10671. We are still in the process of figuring out build space, finances and many other details, but we are registered and preparing to compete in the 2025 season.
We are registered for the Newmarket and Windsor events and look forward to seeing you all there.
Our current number is 10671, but we are in the process of trying to get it changed to 1229. This number has special historic significance to us as it is the number of the original Vincent Massey Secondary School team that competed in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, competing in two events with a combined record of 7-9 (FRC was different back then!).
As we are essentially a “rookie” team (we do not meet the rookie criteria, but are starting from scratch), we are starting with nothing in terms of tools, equipment, facilities and everything else. We are rich in people and ambition (9 mentors, 15-20 students) but poor in everything else.
We are open to any support, donations or collaborations our fellow Windsor-Essex FIRST community members would like to discuss.
We would not have gotten as far as we have so far without the tremendous support we have received from the FRC community. It is amazing how willing people are to help when you ask.
To call some people out by name:
William, Sheri Lynn and Karthik at FIRST Canada for all their help and handling of my 500 emails
Team 4476 W.A.F.F.L.E.S. for their great advice on how to start a community based team
Teams 6875 and 772 for local support and collaboration
Team 1325……they likely don’t even know it but they have provided others with great info that we are benefitting from!
Team 9098 for some great advice on how to be successful as a “low resource” team
Lots of others who have helped so far and into the future
Al Douglas
Mentor
10671