Editing Canada FIRST

Canada FIRST was a Canadian robotics competition similar to the [[FIRST Robotics Competition]] operated by Motivate Canada, Inc. The SPAR Aerospace CANADARM Award was presented annually to the winning team.

"The objective of CANADA FIRST is to stimulate young Canadians to pursue careers in the fields of math, science and technology. The project is student driven with teachers, engineers and technical mentors acting only in a coaching capacity." - Bruce MacMillan, President of CANADA FIRST, 1996.

==1994==
The first Canada FIRST event was held at the National Hobby & Craft Show in Toronto between March 4th and 6th, 1994. Eight teams met on January 21st at a [[kickoff]]-style event where they received the rules and a kit of parts<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19980206034945/http://www.canadafirst.org/english/pressrelease/022495.htm Canada FIRST January 21, 1994 Press Release]</ref>. The inaugural year's game was Tower Power, the [[1994]] FIRST Robotics Competition game. Turner Fenton Secondary School won the competition.

<gallery perrow=3 heights=250px widths=300px>
File:45575 - 1994 demo match robot.jpg|Getting ready for a match at the first [[Canada FIRST]] event. Other robotics and hobbyist competitions like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromouse Micromouse] can be seen in the background. [https://www.frcarchive.com/index.php?q=post/view/45575]
</gallery>

==1995==
The second Canada FIRST event took place at Turner Fenton Secondary School in Brampton on February 24th and 25th, 1995. Eighteen teams from Vancouver to Newfoundland competed in the game "Robot Rampage." Teams were provided with a kit of parts and had six weeks to design and build their robots. Four teams compete at once to score soccer balls in their quadrant of the field. Additional points are awarded for scoring balls inside the goal in one's quadrant and points are deducted for opponent balls in one's quadrant<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010422122942/http://canadafirst.org/english/pressrelease/robot.htm How the CANADA FIRST "Robot Rampage" Competition works]</ref>.

==1996==
Eighteen teams again competed at the third Canada FIRST event on February 23rd to 24th, 1996 at Centennial College in Scarborough. The 1996 game was called Pharaoh's Pholly and involved picking up balls from a central pyramid rack and scoring them in goals in each team's quadrant of the field. Balls from higher up the pyramid were worth more points, and any balls that end the match in a team's quadrant but not in their goal count against the score<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010422122559/http://canadafirst.org/english/pressrelease/021396.htm CANADA FIRST's third annual robotics competition presents Pharaoh's Pholly at Centennial College]</ref>. A regional pilot competition saw eight teams compete.

==1997==
On January 11, 1997 Canada FIRST held their first post-secondary school competition Frantech Football. Five collegiate teams competed<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20010422125251/http://canadafirst.org/english/pressrelease/frantech.htm Frantech Football Kicks-off Canada First's 1997 Season]</ref>.
The 1997 Canada FIRST competition was "Tower of Power Basketball" and took place on February 20th to 22nd, 1997, in the Metropolitan Toronto area at Centennial College in Scarborough. In May, a National Qualifier competition was held<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20001021023919/http://www.canadafirst.org/english/pressrelease/010997.htm Canada First Robotic Games stages pilot Post Secondary Competition at Centennial College Progress Campus]</ref>. Tower of Power Basketball, seemingly also referred to as Tower Power (not to be confused with the [[1994]] FIRST Robotics Competition game, which was also played by Canada FIRST in 1994), is played on a 24 foot square field divided into quadrants with five raised basketball hoops approximately 9 inches in diameter in the center of the field. Robots compete to score balls in the hoops, which can hold up to six balls in a plastic tube under the basket. The central taller basket can hold a single ball and will double the point value of the team that can score a ball inside.