Practice

Practice, for the purposes of the FRC Archive, includes any material related to practice matches, the practice field, or practice field elements available at an FRC event. Photos or videos taken during practice matches or on the practice field, when identifiable, should be tagged practice.

Before team number displays were implemented in 2000, events often left the driver station team number boards blank or filled in with higher team numbers than those that existed at the time. Practice "matches" used to consist of freeform practice time on the playing field, in some cases in up to 20 minute blocks. Team members were allowed out on the field during practice to adjust or make small repairs, even while robots were running. These practice sessions were overall less structured than their modern day counterparts.

Some events, like the championship, have an entire spare field to practice on, while district events more commonly have wooden field elements where teams can take turns practicing with the components they want. Practice matches are generally more structured and include connecting through the FMS, although matches are often unscored and robots do not have to wear the "correct" color bumpers for their alliance.