Pre-college or high school aged?
 

I've been searching the FIRST website looking for the answer to this question and am finding a couple different answers.

The game rules from last year talk about pre-college team members being pilot, discussing conflicts with a ref, etc.

The "how to create a team" document talks about high school aged students.

We have a member who left high school at 16 and will be attending community college this year. So, can she be part of the team but not the drive team? Not part of the team?

And, yes, I know I could call FIRST in the morning. But now is when I have free time. :)

Trying to Help

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

Very interesting.... I, personally, would allow her on the team... but Im not sure.

I know a team that had a girl on the team, but she was held back a year or two, and she was on. That being the case, it doesnt matter what age they are at, as long as they are in high school they can be on the team.

Basically, I dont think she would be allowed on the team, but dont just take my word for it. :)

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

I was a member of the drive team this year while taking classes at a four year college (I was not enrolled in the school and the classes were being used as high school credit; I am 16 years old so I'm high school aged). It was considered free and clear for me to drive in both FTC and FRC as I was taking the college classes as part of a home-schooled high school curriculum.

I'm pretty sure FIRST doesn't have rules saying X Y or Z can or cannot be "on an FRC team", and I think the "high school age" line is intended exactly for this kind of a case (if the rule was "does not have a high school diploma", I could drive every year). I would see no problem in having her on the team (maybe she's technically a "mentor" but you could treat her as a student but I'm pretty sure FIRST doesn't care). If she's enrolled in the college and intends to get a degree there, I doubt the letter of the rule would allow her on the drive team (other than coach), but the spirit would...

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

General "High School" ages in effect, it sounds like she counts as part of your team. :)

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

Was this something your team decided, or did you ask FIRST?

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

I know that lots of homeschooled kids take college classes before 17/18 years old so it's not surprising to me. This year, depending on who joins our team, we might have one or two members doing that.

And our local public high school has agreements with colleges for high school student dual enrollment. On our old team (we split off), we had a junior who was in the public high school and taking a class at the local state college. So that was never an issue in my mind. It's the student who is completely done and gone from high school that I'm wondering about.

Of all the FIRST members who can take college classes (dual enrollment agreements, close enough to one, etc.), I wonder what percentage takes advantage of that? And, is it higher than the percentage of the general high school population?

Thanks for all the input everyone!

Trying to Help

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

I asked FIRST. I also asked the referees at the events I drove in (Wisconsin FTC and Championship FTC) if this was okay. This year I was the drive coach anyway so it was a non-issue.

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

100% sure she can be on the team. I've been in college for 2 years and been on a team for both. Granted, I am a mentor. But I find I learn just as much as I did as a student. And given her circumstance, I'd put her on the books as a mentor but treat her as a student. This being said, she is probably not eligible to drive unless it is cleared with FIRST prior to the competition.

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

I wish to mention that I've seen a few FIRST teams with Early College High School students on it. One team (forgot their number) I was talking to in DC came from an ECHS school. As best I understand it, ECHSs all but require students to take junior college classwork from freshman year to graduation.

If FIRST really had a problem with students taking college classes, teams from schools like that couldn't exist. (And if they could exist, they wouldn't be able to drive...)

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

The rules for both FRC and FTC state that the drivers and human player on the drive team must be a pre-college student. Anyone can be the coach or function as any other role on the team. There is no standard definition for pre-college, but each year specific questions are asked in the official forum. (Example - I remember one where a 16 student who had received their GED was considered to not be a pre-college student).

Since she will be attending college during the competition season, my GUESS (and I am not an official FRC source) is that she can do anything on the team but be the driver or HP (or whatever they decide to call those people this year). Whether your team considers her to be a team member and not a mentor is up to your team and how it is organized.

Do you need to have an official answer now? You can always wait until the Forum is up and running. Or ask in the FTC Q&A forum now.

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

I agree with Carol's logic. Within your team, she can do whatever you'd like during meetings etc, but as a student attending college she cannot fulfill roles restricted to "high school age" (this means students attending high school, as far as I can tell) students, like driver, hp, etc.

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

If a 16 year old who is taking college courses is not a pre-college student, does that mean that a 40 year old who has never attended college is a pre-college student?

Does anyone know if Jeff Gordon ever went to college?

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

According to his website he hasn't... but if you get Jeff Gordon we call dibs on Danica Patrick.:cool:

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

But I'm willing to bet that Jeff Gordan did graduate high school, which would make him ineligible

Re: Pre-college or high school aged?
 

This really makes sense. The intent of the rule is for the students to drive and the students to talk with the referees. So that no adults can argue or take over a driving spot. I believe you can interpret this rule when they say "pre-college" to mean "ages 18 and under".