How To Handle The Off-Season

[Billfred]

So I'm the proud papa of two FLL teams that will be launching this week (late, I know, but it's as soon as we could get the approvals!). It's certain to be a trip, since this is my first time working with FLL teams.

Given the calendar, there's a non-zero chance our FLL competition season will be done before the FRC Kickoff. I'd love to find a way to keep the kids involved, either by doing demos or part-shadowing an FRC team*, but I was wondering what other teams have done to keep their FLLers warm between the end of a competition season and the start of the next one.

*I was talking at Palmetto with a mentor from 4533, who mentioned they took their FRC robot into their gym later in build season, gave the sticks to their FLL kids, and told them to break the robot. This seems like either the best idea ever or the worst idea ever!

[GaryVoshol]

Win your championship event, get invited* to the World Festival, and you'll have 3-4 more months of practices!

Seriously, back when my daughter's team was competing and levels of competition (and the game itself) were much lower, they did go to World Festival 3 years in a row - the first year as invited to a pilot program at Disney, then the next 2 years for winning state. They got to go to Houston and to Atlanta. So by the time April came around, they were FLL'd out.

* - Note, there are so many FLL teams and so few spots at WF, not every championship winner gets to go. A shame when it's your year.

[Blackphantom91]

It depends on what your kids are into honestly? For example, we do a sumo camp with our kids during the off season. Also the kids do many demos and work on different projects and getting the younger ones up to speed.

Making it to your championship event then world championships is also a great way to kill time. :)

Learn more about how the Ev3 and NXT are resourced and all of the wonderful things other teams have put together with my blocks. Learn new types of mechanisms with the NXT. I have heard of teams do entire games with 2 motors :ahh:

Another thing you could do is have your teams research a bit more on what other projects people talk about at competition. Ie have them learn about tsunami's if they did tornados.

Lots of stuff can be done. it's all about what you and your kids would like to do?