We need your Pros and Cons
 

We met with our county council and asked them to declare robotics a sport. There were overwhelmingly supportive of the idea but asked us for handy dandy 1 sheeter on the pros and cons of sports and why robotics should be placed under the athletic program. http://team1389.com/moco-advocacy-2016-day-1/ So we have decided to ask the CD crowd for their input on a few questions?

What are all of the pros and cons of school sports?
What are the pros and cons of robotics?
What are the pros and cons of making robotics a sport?

We will get this wrapped up into a bow and uploaded once we are done for other teams to use.

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

You guys have to pay for your build space unless you are considered a sport? That's crazy. How do non-sport clubs deal with that? I can't imagine they charge chess club to use the school.

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

The Pros and Cons for a School sport are that it builds comradery, social skills, and builds bonds with the adults so the students can begin to make connections; cons are that they take up time and could cost money depending on what sport and if there is any fundraising involved.
The pros and cons of robotics are that it helps build connections to the students future, it challenges both the mind and body, it REALLY helps build social skills; the cons are essentially the same.
The pros and cons of making robotics a sport are that the pros are that there are no direct impacts to anything, just that the students who participate can say they are in a sport and that the robotics team can get more attention from the school/county to possibly get more funding and students. The cons are none, there isn't any real reason for it to be bad for it to become a sport, the school might just have to fund it a tad bit.

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

I'd imagine the only cons for the school would be having to fund the program and the coaches more.

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

I wouldn't say there are no cons. For teams that have a 501c3, I do not know how their relationship with it would be affected. I imagine it would differ by school. It is also sometimes nice to be ignored because you can get away with some stuff you otherwise wouldn't be able to.

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

In this conversation with your local administrators, please don't paint future teams into a corner by describing "robotics" as a single facet of one program, or as a single program (VRC, or FRC, or FTC, or BEST, or FIRST, or ...).

They all are student-robotics competitions ("robotics"), and hopefully all will satisfy the definitions your local admins are using.

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

Rather than placing it under athletics it should be placed under a STEM or academic program. I know it is a strange thought to some that your school be known for excelling in academic competitions rather than athletic ones. :] What you really want is getting it placed in a category that qualify teachers for stipends. One of the biggest problem with sustainability of a school team is retention of the primary school contact. (Full disclosure I am not a teacher and would benefit from this.)

Pros:

• Teacher stipends would sustainability of the program
• Abiltity to network with other students. employers college level academics which create employment and further education

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

Agreed. We are trying to cast the net as wide as possible by just referring to "robotics" so that any team or program could be included. Here is a list of all of the teams / programs we have found in the county that are helping us make this push louder. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

There is a relatively significant con to making robotics a sport. At least in the MIAA (MA league), a student-athlete can only play one sport a season. Even if robotics is not a registered MIAA sport, athletes are bound by MIAA rules (with the consequence of suspension if they are caught) to always attend their MIAA sport before their club sport. As the robotics season spans two-three sports seasons, and kids might want to miss sports practice to go to a competition, this could be a problem.

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

That's an interesting one, though does anyone actually enforce the MIAA rules? I know in my school, the school would suspend people from sports who were caught drinking, but I had never heard of anyone being in trouble with the MIAA. Then again, I never played sports.

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

What are all of the pros and cons of school sports?
Pros: Leadership, following direction, value of hardwork and practice, improved physical fitness, sense of accomplishment (when successful), learning about physical and mental toughness, can help learn time management, memories will last a lifetime
Cons: You can get physically hurt, requires resources (money/facility/instruction), time spent can lead to lower grades for some students (time management double edge sword)

What are the pros and cons of robotics?
Pros: Leadership, following direction, value of hardwork and practice, improved physical fitness, sense of accomplishment (when successful), learning real world learning opportunities and improved mental toughness, can help learn time management, memories will last a lifetime
Cons: You can get physically hurt (though rare), requires resources (money/facility/instruction), time spent can lead to lower grades for some students (time management double edge sword)

What are the pros and cons of making robotics a sport?
Pros: Depending on the school availability of resources. Increased respect level and recognition by peers. Importance of "lettering" in High School peer structure.
Cons: Depending on the school, new rules and eligibility may apply, possible funding complications* (see use it or loose it rules).

*For instance, where I grew up, much of the funding for team sports was provided by revenue from Football and Men's basketball ticket revenue. Women's basketball and volley ball were quite popular but were likely neutral at best.
Wrestling (I wrestled), baseball, track and field, soccer, and golf were deficit sports and received much of their funding for uniforms and facilities from Football and Men's basketball, and warm-ups via boosters or personal buys.

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

Some of my thoughts, in no particular order, about making robotics a sport:

- about a year ago the school I mentor at reorganized and changed the "athletics director" position to be "competitive activities director". What this renaming really meant was that activities like robotics or debate were now getting the same support from the school as traditional sports. This comes with funding (both for the team and, I think, increased teacher stipends) and some assistance from the office, especially through travelling with the team. All of that can be listed as a pro (for the team) or a con (for the school/individual whose workload and money headaches just increased).

- Lettering can be a really powerful force for helping with recruitment, retention, and dedication, and if you don't have that already for your team this could be a good way to get it. Check out the lettering requirements for the varsity sports teams and come up with your own to propose, that mirror or exceed those the sports teams have.

- Increased recognition from and within the school is good for both the team (recruitment!) and the school (for lack of a better term, advertising to future students/the community)

When it comes to comparing robotics versus sports for your first two questions, they really are very similar. Both develop leadership skills, can be a catalyst for improved academic performance and increased teamwork. Robotics has the added benefit of including additional out-of-classroom learning in STEM fields, while sports can help absorb some extra energy students may have after sitting in a classroom all day.

Re: We need your Pros and Cons
 

Thanks for all of the input on the pros and cons of sports. In the end we decided not to use the pros and cons approach, instead we focused on the overall impact of what our county calls secondary athletics.

Secondary athletics in Montgomery County Maryland have done a great job of growing gender and ethnic diversity in athletics. However, the county has no such equivalent for STEM. So we argued that if the county trully wants to grow both diversity and participation in STEM that they should take all of the things that work well for athletics and apply them to STEM.

Here is a write up that captures more details. http://team1389.com/discussed-making...ort-with-mcps/