Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

Hello-

If you or your team has a fee or contribution cost to attend a regional or regionals (or even to be on the team), would you kindly PM or email me (if you don't want to post it).

If part of the fund raising effort is to refund these at the end of the season then please note that too.

Thanks in advance- I'm trying to compile some statistics for making our teams sustainable.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

We do charge a nominal fee at the start of each year. It has fluctuated between $20-$30 in the past and we're looking at the possibility of increasing that due to other budgetary cuts. It does not get refunded, however if anyone has a financial need/hardship the fee gets waived provided certain criteria are met.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

Teams have posted some great handbooks in the white papers here and here: http://www.usfirst.org/community/frc...t.aspx?id=7022
outlining expectations.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

For us, it's $400 per year per student to cover 3 TShirts, a hoodie, travel costs (busses+hotels), and food at regionals.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

Our team has dues at the beginning of the year (last year around $50 or so). I imagine that it's negotiable if someone on the team has financial hardship, but that's not my or my teammate's business so I wouldn't know. Volunteering at fundraising events is also a requirement, but our teammates just volunteer anyway; I don't think anyone who's made the cash commitment to the team that shows up to team meetings decides volunteering isn't worth it.

Our team charges teammates for the hotel room and I think part of the bus fee for the away regional (Minnesota for the near future). This isn't to make a profit or anything, but rather since the team organises the rooms together to keep costs down. The same hotel fees apply for Atlanta, but instead of busing team members that wish to go find their own transportation (mostly by plane). Our home regional's just down the street, so that's never a concern.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

We have a fee of $150 to be on the team (to cover shirts, etc), and an additional $100 per regional (to cover bussing, hotel rooms, etc.) The students are responsible for their own food.

Edit: We attend 2 regionals a year, so that works out to $350 for the majority of team members. We have not been to Atlanta in several years, so I don't know if there would be extra costs for it as well.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

This season, 1646 is implementing a new way to be active on the team. The students will now be asked to get somewhere between $150 and $250 in sponsorship money. There will be ways to offset these costs if students are not able to raise the money. It will be highly suggested that the students do raise the money so that the team will be able to have a larger budget for the year.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

Our team attends two regionals, one out of state and one about 30 minutes away. We have to pay $150 for transportation and housing for the out of state regional and pay for our own meals. We pay for shirts separately, usually at $10 a piece. If we have spirit items, it is an option for students to buy them and that can range anywhere from $5 to $20. Sweatshirts and jackets are ordered once a year and cost anywhere from $25 to $40.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

My "old" team, 1552 doesn't have a fee for being a member of the team. Students may have to pay for their T-shirt depending on the financial situation.

I see charging fees to be on a team as a brilliant way to drive away potential members. I know I wouldn't have joined the team if I had to pay $100 to be part of it. My parents probably wouldn't have liked it either.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

Eh, it's not really like an entry fee. It's an activity fee. If it's a financial hardship, most teams (mine included) can negotiate.

My team collects the fee in the fall, after you've gone to summer demos and such, so you can get a feel for what the team is like beforehand. It's not like our team won't let you in the door if you don't have $50 in hand on day 1.

Even school sports have activity fees.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

In response to this, when I was in high school and a part of the football team for 4 years, we had to raise or pay $300 per person to cover many expenses. Almost all sports at my old highschool and all club sports have some type of fee to pay. I really don't see a reason to not have everyone on the team be responsible for raising $100-300, either through fundraising or just paying a fee. Of course there should be opportunities for the students to raise the money instead of relying on their parents, and there should also be exceptions for low income students, although having fundraising opportunities would take care of that scenario.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

I've said this before but I feel that it should be reiterated. In my freshman year I was only able to attend the local regional because of monetary problems. Because of this some people felt I was not interested in the team, and did not tell me about summer projects. This year I thankfully was able to be more active during the competition season, but be sure that the students that are not financially gifted are still involved.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

Our team has never had to do this in the past, but I am seriously thinking about it for next year. although for our regional each member had to pay $98 for hotel and transportation.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

I agree, it is a turn off to potential team members to require a large monetary committment. However, we try to make it clear in the fall of each year, BEFORE we start asking for $$, that if anybody has financial problems, to talk to the mentors. We would never turn anybody away or prevent them from attending an event due to their financial situation.

In the past, our team has had what we call personal fundraisers. Two years ago, we sold pizza cards (they cost $10 and gave the cardholder a buy 2 get one free deal). Each student could sell as many as they liked, up to the cost of team fees, and they would keep that money to offset their team fees. So if anybody needed to save money, they could sell 35 pizza cards and pay their team fees.

The team wouldn't turn their back on someone and leave them with 35 pizza cards though. We would still at the very least cover a portion of their fee.

Re: Student 'contributions' / fees to attend regionals
 

For both 1618 and 2815 this past season, students that qualified to travel were only on the hook for food. 1618 collected this money from the students before the event, while 2815 left it to those traveling to have the money with them. There are pros and cons to both.