[tr6scott]

Sorry to hear of the issue, first years are tough for anyone. I ran into this at the FLL level, and this is also my "rookie" mentor year at the FRC level. The FRC team is not a rookie, and is stock full of great mentors, so I am having a very easy rookie mentor season.

Here is my take on it from the FLL level where we were a rookie team. The expectations of the kids and team parrents, are typically much higher than what is realistic at the start. Playing with Legos looks easy, you look at the challenges, and say, I could do that... until you do, you do not applicate how hard it is. 15th is an excellent finish, you and your team should be very proud of your accomplishments.

Rookie season, the mentor learns more than the kids. Now that you have been to a tournament or two, you should have a feel the love that is in the room. There is a great amount of support from other teams in the area, don't be afraid to ask for help.

I still struggle finding information on the FIRST site, and the Labview site when I have specific issues, but both here and on the Labview forums have been a great source of help this year, and I am thankful for both.

I've coached baseball for 6 years in our local rec league, and this is how I start each year with the coaches and parents. "This year I guarantee we will have a winning season." Then I go on to how I define a winning season, as a season in which all of my players return to play next year.

Make it a winning season, see you next year.