Continuing the discussion from Who is the best organization in your opinion?:
This thread is for discussing the best VEX organizations in your region, both in their performance on the field, and in their impact within their communities and around the world.
(Special thanks to @d_hums for inspiring me to post this!)
As for the best organizations in Florida:
4411 (WARwolf Robotics, TERRA Environmental Research Institute):
Never had a team miss States (except one that quit mid-season this year), may have had the best Florida team in Toss Up, ITZ, and Turning Point, and has given a lot of help to schools in their area.
Except for a brief period from Skyrise to Nothing But Net (and maybe Starstruck), they have had one of the best teams in the state every year, from 4411A and 4411B in the early years, to all four of their teams in ITZ, and especially 4411S in Turning Point, who is definitely one of the best Florida teams in the history of VEX.
For as long as there has been a Florida State Championship, no 4411 team has missed States, except for one team this year which stopped competing mid-season (and probably would have qualified for States if they had continued).
In addition to their excellent performance on the field, several students from 4411 have given back to their community by mentoring other teams in their city (specifically 13001 and 59) over at least the past two years.
VEX Forum members: @Mystellianne (very helpful), 4411Pipe
7121 (Maverick Robotics, Archbishop McCarthy HS):
Frequently volunteering, qualifies most of their teams to States, consistently makes it to elims at local events, and 3-time state champ
Every year, almost all of 7121ās teams make it to the elimination rounds at their local tournaments, and I remember them being a weekly threat for the Excellence and Design Awards.
The original 7121 was the #1 seed and tournament champion at the first ever Florida State Championship (in Toss Up), and continued to rank near the top and frequently win the Excellence Award until they graduated after Starstruck.
And in ITZ and Turning Point, 7121E was State Champions two years in a row (for all of Florida in ITZ, and South Florida in Turning Point, although they probably could have won for all of Florida that year, too). I considered them one of the top 2-3 teams in the state both years, and the only ones I would rank above them this year were teams they collaborated with.
In addition to all this on-field success, their coaches, parents, and students have volunteered at several tournaments, including both editions of the annual Broward County Public Schools tournament, and the emcee from their school was the emcee at a large number of events in South Florida up through ITZ, in addition to States in Starstruck (and maybe previous years, too).
5956 (Bangarang, Timber Creek HS):
5956 has qualified at least one team to Worlds every year for the past five seasons (2014-2019), and I suspect that they might have something to do with the explosion in teams in the Orlando area over the past 3 seasons. (Bart Nash, who used to run States, might have had something to do with that, too, and/or other people.)
VEX Forum members: Someone who was on 5956A in Skyrise, but I donāt remember the name at the moment. Also Jaime and Cooper on the Discord.
6430 (Trinity Dragons):
Best organization in the state 3 out of 5 years; qualified both/all of their teams to Worlds every year except debut season; very helpful on forum; likely a Worlds Excellence contender in Starstruck
With the possible exception of their first year (where not enough data is available), 6430 has had an argument for at least one of their teams being the best team in the state, every single year, and for their last 2 years, it was almost undisputed. (The main debate for NBN wold be whether it was 6430 or 6430B who was better, and for Starstruck, 6430 and 88666X did about equally well in Florida, and 88666X was the #1 seed at States, but 6430 was the #1 seed, and made it to finals, in the Research Division at Worlds, which was predicted to be the hardest division that year.)
At Worlds, 6430B made it to finals as a third pick in Skyrise, and was the undefeated 2nd seed in their division in NBN (coming a few SPās short of being #1), and 6430 went 8-2 in Skyrise and 10-0 in Starstruck (being the #1 seed and making it to finals in what was predicted to be the most competitive division at Worlds that year). Other than their first season, they have qualified all of their teams for Worlds every year (2 for Toss Up through NBN, and 3 in Starstruck), and in each hand of these years they had at least one team go 6-4 or better (and usually 8-2 or better).
Even after most of the original 6430 students graduated, two of them (plus one 6430X student from VEX IQ) continued on as 1533M, and continued their streak of being arguably the best team every year (their main competitors during that time being 7121E and 4411S, plus 910X this year and 554Z last year).
After competing only in VEX IQ during ITZ and Turning Point, it sounds like 6430 will be back for this season (likely as a middle school team for this year), so I expect more success to come.
VEX Forum members: @TriDragon (coach), Scarr, RossTheBoss, @braeden.adams.
77788 (Cyber Eagles, Calvary Christian Academy - the one in Fort Lauderdale):
Hasn't had a team miss States in the past 2 years; consistently makes elims at Worlds; very friendly
Except for their debut season, they have qualified every single one of their VRC teams to States every year, and have sent at least one team to Worlds. This year, all 3 of their teams who made it to Worlds, and all 4 of their teams who made it to the CREATE U.S. Open, made it to the elimination rounds in their divisions.
They are also very friendly to other teams, and especially 77321J (the team I was the assistant coach for in ITZ).
This year, 77788Y won the Excellence Award at the South Florida State Championship, and I expect them to be one of the best teams in the state for at least the next 3 years (along with 77788G and 77788H), especially after this season when 910X graduates.
VEX Forum members: @ZachDaChampion (very helpful), plus others on the Discord.
6105C/67766/1644 (Suncoast Polytechnical HS):
Best multi-team organization in North/Central Florida last year; rapidly growing
This past year, Suncoast Polytechnical High School has probably been the best-performing multi-team organization in North/Central Florida, and I expect them to do even better next year.
I remember they also loaned their field for use as the Skills field at the USF Signature Event in Tampa.
I have to give some credit to Brookside Middle School (6105B and 6105D) here, too, because although 1644 was a great team, especially in NBN, the school was even better this season, after 6105C graduated from Brookside to SPHS - and Iām sure existing SPHS student @Adam_6105C contributed a lot, too, and that @67766A_Randy and the other new 67766A students played a big role in their own success.)
VEX Forum members: Adam_6105C, ItzChilly, CSpencer, 67766A_Randy (Jack), plus Armand and Candice (and maybe others) on the Discord.
4330 (Ransom Everglades Upper School):
Despite not doing quite as well on the field as many other teams recently (although 4330N and 4330R were some of the best in the state from at least Sack Attack through NBN, and 7936X in Sack Attack), people from their school have volunteered at almost every event I have been to in South Florida, as the EP (or helping out the EP), the head referee, the Tournament Manager software operator, and sometimes the emcee. (If Iām not mistaken, two of them have even refereed and emceed at the same time!)
VEX Forum members: @JoshyB. @vanLidth
13001 (Tiger Industries, W.R. Thomas Middle School):
In addition to their excellent on-field performance this year (they, 6105B, and 77788H were definitely the top 3 teams in Florida for middle school VRC this year), their coach Adam Mack is also an excellent EP (he ran South Florida States), and emceed at every single event in South Florida from February to March (and likely January, too), in addition to being the emcee and head referee at the first annual USF Signature Event in Tampa.
Honorable Mention:
99969 (Westwood Middle School):
Their coach, @sankeydd, has helped a lot of people on the VEX Forum, and also performed a lot of the responsibilities of running North/Central Florida States this year, in addition to running two events of his own (which may have been the most well-received events in the state based on what I have heard about them).
Edited to add:
34203/88666/5267/8899X (Braden River HS):
One of the top organizations in the state from NBN to ITZ; Trinity Dragons' main rival
Their teams were Trinity Dragonsā main rivals for the title of ābest team in the stateā in NBN and Starstruck, and continued to be among the best teams in the state in ITZ.
Even when their original group of students graduated after ITZ, 34203X continued to be (by my estimates) one of the top 10 teams in the state for Turning Point.
For ITZ, Skull & Bones split off from Braden River High School to become an independent team, and continued to be one of the best teams in the state.
I also remember a girl named Aisha who scouted for 88666D and was the driver for 34203Z in ITZ, who was one of the friendliest people Iāve met in VEX.
Note: The two teams they had during the height of their success both consisted of students who had also had great success in middle school - Skull & Bones at Haile Middle School as 2711 and 8899Z, and Vexecutives as 7222X at Nolan Middle School. Based on what I heard about the Vexecutives organization (which includes teams from several different schools in Manatee County, Florida), I believe the coach of 34203X was also involved in coaching their predecessors.
4154 (U.S.S.R., NSU University School):
Dominated South Florida for 3 years, and stayed good since then; made it to Worlds every year for the past 6 years
4154A was the most dominant team in South Florida every year from Skyrise through Starstruck, and the #1 seed and State Champion in Skyrise. They also won the Excellence Award at States in NBN.
After 4154Aās original students graduated, 4154B continued their schoolās success by winning back-to-back Design Awards at States, and was one of the top 10-15 teams in the state both years despite major changes in the lineup of their students.
4154 has sent at least one team to Worlds every year for the past 6 years (every year since Toss Up), and has always had at least one of their teams win at least 40% of their matches.
VEX Forum Members: One member of 4154A tried to join the VEX Forum during Skyrise, but I havenāt confirmed whether the account was approved.
508 (PiraTech, Palm Bay HS):
Consistently a top team through NBN, and has still consistently made it to States and won awards at local events since then. Had a resurgence near the end of this year.
508 was one of the most successful organizations in the state from the first years of VEX that I know of, up until the NBN season. They havenāt done quite as well on the field since Starstruck, but they have still consistently sent at least two teams to state every year, and have won the Design Award at local events and the Spirit Award at States.
(508J even finished 2nd in the qualifying rounds at North Florida States this year.)
More Honorable Mentions:
8336 (Gladiators 1-2, Hialeah Gardens HS):
8336Z won the Excellence Award at North Florida States this year (after coming all the way from the Miami area), and the Build Award in the Arts Division at Worlds, all in their first year since Starstruck and their first year going to more than 1-2 tournaments.
Even though they havenāt been around for long, I expect them to continue to perform well in the future.
2711/8899Z (Haile Middle School):
Haile Middle School was dominant from at least Gateway through Skyrise, after which their last VRC students (8899Z) graduated and became Skull & Bones (with an older student also joining). (Haile Middle School continued in VEX IQ after this, as well.)
8899Z was also a division finalist (as a third pick), and the division Build Award winner, at Worlds in Skyrise.
1360/1361 (Vibots, Robotics Engineering Academy/McLane Middle School):
They were extremely successful from at least Gateway to Skyrise, in both middle school and high school, and Iāve heard that a girl from their team was an inspiration to Sean Carr of 6430 when he was starting out in VEX.
They also returned for a few events in Turning Point (after having been in VEX IQ since it was founded), so we may be seeing more of them in the future.
