Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

I am curious about this GA law you mention. What law regulates membership or participation on a FIRST team? I know that both teams I have been associated with (both in Georgia) accepted anyone, whether a student at that school or not. Are we breaking the law?

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

While at Worlds I spoke with some people from FIRST about age limits. From what I was told the lower age is considered a "soft" limit while the upper age is a "hard" limit. I would think the only exception would be a high school student who was held back a year and thus would be 19 at graduation. I believe that is the only exception to the 18 year old hard limit for FRC.

The way I was explained "soft" lower age limit is that if you have someone who is in advanced classes, and is in 8th grade, or if someone will be turning 14 during the season, then that student would be allowed to join. At least that is what several different FIRST people have told me.

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

Were they talking about drivers or team members? A team member can be anyone of any age. FIRST explicitly does not dictate team structure, only the ages of the drivers. A team could be all engineers with three students to form the drive team.

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

If they would like either age limit to be treated as a rule, they might want to put them in the rules... and I'm not sure that's true, as I know there are FRC teams out there with 7th-graders.

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

I resisted the urge to jump right into this thread when it started. I'm glad I did, because others have pretty much said what I would have said about the legalities and semantics of being or not being a "student".

I'm posting now to ask the OP to consider the premise behind their original question. That being, the desire to remain a participant on your high school team after you have graduated. I would encourage you to read through the thread about transitioning from being a student to being a mentor. The general advice from those with experience is that you need to separate yourself from your former team, take at least a few years away from FIRST, and consider returning as mentor when you have your degree.

I understand your desire to continue to participate on your team. The fact that you want to is a credit to FIRST, in that the program has made STEM enjoyable for you. You are exactly what FIRST aims to produce, high school graduates who intend to pursue careers in STEM fields. But, remaining on your high school team as a "student" after you have graduated, especially in a leadership position on the team, isn't fair to the other students on the team. They have put in their time, growing into those positions. It's time to allow them to move up.

I'm going to try to phrase this in as kind a way as I can. The fact that this isn't immediately obvious to you is a sign that you aren't ready to transition to being a mentor, either. Being a student on a FIRST team is about being all you are capable of. Being a mentor is about using your industry experience and life experience to help the kids be all they can be. So, follow the good advise given on the thread I referenced and take a few years to get your degree and gain some industry and life experience. Then return to FIRST and be a fantastic mentor. But, for now, it's time to let go and move on to the next phase of your life.

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

While true (and a very good way to take this thread), I'd venture that it is legitimately dependent on the individual's reason behind the gap year. For instance, we've had students graduate at 16 and 17 (home schooled) and take gap years before college.

They chose to move on from the team for unrelated reasons, but I doubt we would have begrudged a 16-year-old another year on the team, even if she did have to be labeled a "mentor" and thus not eligible to drive. I'm not sure how I feel about that limitation, but don't see a reason that anyone this young should be effectively "kicked out" of their experience as a FIRST student simply because they can graduate early.


I can envision a few other potential reasons to continue acting as a student, though some a perhaps more controversial than a situation in which you're ending your student tenure "early".

As for driving, I'd agree with others that the legal answer is likely no, but you could check with FIRST. In terms of behaving as a student, I'd say it's something best discussed with your mentors.