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Auburn University Headquarters of BEST Robotics
The Status of BEST's National Championship
BEST Robotics, Inc. made a decision in July to forgo the hosting of a BEST National Championship for this season. There are many factors which affected this decision. We are committed to keeping the BEST program as the most affordable STEM development program in the country for our teachers and students.
Teacher Response
BEST Robotics received feedback from a large number of BEST teachers who were asked if they were in favor of a national championship. The vast majority said they were not, that participating in BEST from September through December was demanding enough. While there ARE teams that wish to continue off-season activities, there are other opportunities to do so and BRI will continue to look at ways to support that.
Expense
The expense required to host such a national championship event easily exceeds $50,000. BEST Robotics annual budget comes directly from funds raised by our local hubs. The budget and our fundraising capability do not currently support such a cost-prohibitive one-time event. The additional expense for teams that must travel across the country to such an event is too great and does not align with our standard of a low-cost high-impact program. Spending these kinds of funds to impact a small number of students would be irresponsible and poor stewardship on our part.
Location
With BEST Robotics continued growth and expansion across the US (15%-20% annually), the location for a national championship event becomes even more problematic. While the events in 2010 and 2011 were at fantastic venues (Dallas, Orlando), the location for such an event becomes less and less centralized and much more inconvenient for our teams as we grow across the nation.
Impact
BEST Robotics prides itself on the ability to impact a large number of students with a unique opportunity for hands-on STEM education that may not otherwise be available to them. The 2010 and 2011 BEST national championship events hosted only 12 teams and 16 teams, respectively. While it was a wonderful opportunity for those few teams, the benefit of this single event was determined to contradict the goals of the program. BEST has well over 850 teams that participate annually and this is growing each year. Our goals are to impact those students and influence their future career choices, not to simply crown a national champion. All of our students can and should be proud of their accomplishments.
Event Organizers & Volunteers
BRI is a volunteer-run organization; it has no staff. It is managed and operated by folks who are passionate about and committed to the BEST program, but who also have "day jobs." These individuals devote a significant amount of time to BEST throughout the year. The planning required to host our local competitions begins months before Kick Off Day in September. As is the case with our teams, by Game Day our volunteers have invested hundreds of hours in the program. Many of us also go on to help run BEST’s three regional championships.
Hosting a national championship is a monumental task that requires a large number of volunteers and several months to develop, plan, and coordinate. Asking our volunteers to add this to their current year-round activities was deemed not reasonable for the sole benefit of naming a national champion.