It is Spring 2011. BEST Robotics is coming off it’s second year with a new partnership with VEX Robotics that brought the Cortex microcontroller into our Return Kits. There is interest in continuing a National Championship after the success of 2010, our first attempt. VEX Robotics still wants BEST presence at the VEX World Championship event, a joint event featuring both competitions. But venues have changed and the new event will be held at Disney World Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida. BEST Robotics has no hubs or teams in that area. Again there is concern about the burden of travel on our regional championship teams that will be advancing. Where will volunteers come from? How will we get a field to the event? How can we make this happen?
Through lots of hard work and some very dedicated volunteers, the BEST World Championship DID happen in Spring of 2011 in Orlando, Florida. A continuation of 2010’s Total Recall game. Thanks to War Eagle BEST in Alabama who provided many volunteers and delivered a game field by trailer over 400 miles (and 6.5 hrs) away. There were many sacrafices and significant expenses incurred. The lesson from this adventure was….it’s not feasible or cost effective to host such a championship in a location where we currently have no footing at a time inconsistent with our normal season (Spring). It was great fun and a wonderful venue. Everyone enjoyed the competition and the teams were outstanding. But this would be the last such championship for the forseeable future.
Why was it dubbed the BEST World Championship? A suggestion from one of the planning committee members….why don’t we call it the World Championship since BEST is hosting teams outside of the United States. We are? Yes, we have at least one team from Canada participating in Bison BEST (Fargo, ND). And so it was…