We all know there are a LOT of offseason competitions, but what are their true value?
Is it a last hurrah for seniors or a chance to find new talented drivers?
A place to test new parts or wear down old robots?
Just a lot of fun or competition like a regional/nationals?
Just wondering what everyone’s ideas about this are…
D. All of the above and more, I’d say.
Its a place for teams to get another chance at the game before having to move on to a new one.
It is a place for teams to go against the year’s successful robots to see if they can measure up.
It is a place where teams could possibly play with some of the more successful robots, to learn exactly what they did.
It is a place to make even more friends. The low pressure environment just begs for you to do that.
It is a place to introduce new sponsors and new team members to the game.
Its a last chance to get current sponsors to see the program and what its all about.
(Its a chance for host teams to boost their Chairman’s Award entry – wow, I said it :). Don’t hold it against me, I’m sure thats not a team’s reason for hosting a competition.)
heh, etc.
Offseason competitions are, quite possibly, the future of the FIRST organization. Low cost, small competitions reminescent of the old FIRST in which competiting robots have good chance of going against all other robots at the regional. But of course, if we look at some of the heavyweights in the offseason category this year, we see get an example of how FIRST has grown into what it is right now. From 24 team regionals, to 28, to 32, to 36, to 42, to 60! Son of FIRST, indeed.
I think they are a fun place to get less experienced people into competition without having too much pressure on them, whether it be driving, human player, mechanics, or anything else. Even if they don’t end up with that job at regionals, they still have a fun time and learn more about the robot.
I also like meeting people at scrimmages because people are a little more relaxed since it doesn’t count for quite as much. Granted, I’ve only been to one offseason so far, but this is what I want to accomplish at the ones we will go to this year.
-Diobsidian
Off-season comps gives us a chance to have more fun since we only get like 4 months for build and official comps. But off-season comps make the season extend longer. Which in turn equals more fun 
It’s a fun way for engineering schools to get potential students on campus and hopefully… for future enrollment into their college/university.
We got a lot of our freshmen this year fired up about FIRST by taking them to Ford Sweet Repeat and giving them a taste of what competition is like. Taking them was probably one of the main reasons we retained more freshman this year.
When I joined my team/got involved with FIRST in 2002 our team had never attended an off-season competition, and many people hadn’t heard of us. We had started to make a name for ourselves by being picked by the #1 alliance at Midwest after seeding last and winning with them, but still nobody could pronounce Oconomowoc. 
We went to IRI in the summer of 2002 and had a blast, we returned in 2003 and will be there in 2004 and proabably many years after. Off-season competitions are just as and even more fun, because your robot is done already, you meet tons of amazing new people/friends, travel to some different places, and you get your team out there and it starts to be recognized. If your team is active and goes to as many events as possible then people start to go, “oh yea, look out its that darn team from wisconsin” and stuff to that extent. It not only helps your team members by letting them have fun, it helps your team in the long run as well.
We use offseason events for many reasons, we use it for recruiting new team members, for allowing younger students the chance to drive the robot, it gives our kids more experience attending more events, the enjoyment of getting to know other teams you might not have a chance to meet at regionals. Mostly we enjoy it because it is fun, the pressure to win to qualify for nationals is off. We can really only afford to attend one regional so we try to attend a few offseason comps.
Offseason competitions are fun and VERY affordable!
One very important purpose for **Ramp Riot ** is to involve the community outside of FIRST. Specifically the younger children in our area. It is also a great opportunity for the other high school students to see a competition.
Every year when we prepare for Ramp Riot, I remind my students that this is your ONLY HOME GAME all year. So make it great!!
Now that we are an established competition, we will occasionally get offers to move Ramp Riot to a larger venue. But 341 will never move Ramp Riot from the high school.
There are now local kids that wait all year to see what the new game will be. They can’t wait to talk to the teams. They truly look up to the high school kids on all of these teams. That is exactly what we want young kids making heroes out of students pursuing technology.
**Ramp Riot ** is now a part of the fabric of our local community!
(If you are interested in the competition on 11/13/04 check out our Delphi thread for Ramp Riot 2004, contact me, or check out www.team341.com . )
Thanks!! 