For us most of the middle school kids that help don't really help that much. I admit that we do have a few that are very helpful though. We ourselves were looked down upon before for our age last year at the Chief Delphi competition @ Pontiac, Mi and we do not want it to happen again. We know that some high school students are also immature and they don't tend to focus that well either. I made the generalization that middle school students are immature by looking at the majority that attend the meetings to help. This is also not because of jealousy. This an important matter at hand for our team.

On our team, we don't let rookies drive simply because they have never been to a competition. We feel that it is important that they experience the competition from more of a spectator's pont of view before going out on the playing field. They should have a knowledge of what the competition is actually like. It doesn't matter if someone is a freshman or a senior, rookies can't drive.

- Katie

Our driver was a rookie <edit> and a freshman </edit> last year and he did really well and better than most veteran drivers...rookies can drive, its just that in most cases they cant because, yes they don't have the competition expierence

any one who signed up for comp team had to take a test on the rules of the game ,strategy and other things the people with the highest score and understanding of the game are on comp team no matter age or experience



drivers can be trained and experience has to start somewhere

I realized that there are some rookies out there who will drive than veterans, but we want them to know what a competition is like before they get out on the playing field. ::shrug:: it's just the way we do things.

- Katie

driving
 

This year we have two drivers on our team, and an alternate. What it really came down to was who knew how the robot worked, how much strategy they know, and whether or not they have been at the competition before. Our alternate, though every bit as good as the two regulars, hasn't been to a competition before so is, ultimately, the alternate.

As driver for our team last year, I'd say the qualifications for driver shoul include both good techinical driving ability and strategy. I've seen many a match lost because the driver wasn't utlilizing his time well. The only true teest of driver skills is an actual match. If the middle school students can prove they have a grasp on driving and strategy, I say give them a shot. You might want to also consider, however, they will have many more years to try for driver, and this will be your seniors last chance.

Our best driver on my old team drove every year from when he was in 8th grade till he graduated.

You definelty don't want a middle school driver if he/she is immature, but the same thing applies to a senior.

A drive should be someone who is capable of driving the machine without goofing off. This isn't a cookie-cutter situation. You have to talor the needs of each child. If one can work on the bot, but goof off when inappropreate, but another works a little on the bot but still contributes to the team a lot, and can be calm, then you can mabey consider him as a back-up. But overall, I would say no. Simple reason: SENORITY. It's how it'll be when they go into the job force and that's how life is. They know the ins and outs.

I still think on a rookie team there is no such thing as senority because everyone has no experience. Therefore a middle school driver has the same experience as a senior. Better yet, he will be returning to the team as a student and the senior will not, so maybe that middle school student will be the team driver for several years. This only applies to rookie teams in my opinion.

If the middle school students are good enough to drive, then I think they should be able to.

On the other hand, if he is just as good as other older drivers are then the older ones should be able to drive because of seniority.

And if the young kids really wanted to drive, give them a turn either before you ship the robot or after the competitions. That way it does not really count but they still get to drive.

In Regards to Middle School Drivers
 

Middle school aged drivers seems to be a decidedly divisive topic here. My $0.02 on the whole issue is as follows....

I am a four-year FIRST alumnus, but my years were split 1997-1998 and 2001-2002. Those first two years were spent at a school that was a combined middle school and high school. Needless to say, it was also before the advent of the FIRST Lego League. My team at that time was the original, and now defunct, US Coast Guard Academy team (Team 100 in 1997, before team number standardization, and team 124 thereafter). Our drivers were picked not by grade or seniority but by ability to control the robot in trials. In both 1997 and 1998, as a seventh and eighth grader, I was chosen as one of our robot drivers. Competing with robots that one can only call mediocre at best, we never finished higher than the top third at any competitions (1997 J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional, 1998 J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional, 1998 Nationals), but the fact remains that a middle school driver helped the team there.

Given that he/she has the skills necessary to drive the robot and the maturity to be a team player, I wholeheartedly approve of middle schoolers at the stick.

Ken Levin
#571 Paragon Alumnus

Also consider that the pilots/copilots must

A) get along with eachother, and with the coaches

B) be able to make competant decisions

C) Listen to both coaches

Maturity is also a factor, and it's also nice to give senors a chance to drive, since often they are the most level-headed. You don't want your driver to freak out and go rambo on ya.

This is a stupid question but what grades are middle school for your schools anyway??????????????????

What's stupid? Used to be 7-8, in '99 went to 6-8th.