[dag0620]

I know for us we go along the route your mentor recommended, let everyone give it a try during off-season.

Why?

Well yes everyone can get a chance to drive it at meetings during off-season, but let's face it - it's not the same experience as in a competition setting.

We do have exceptions to this. Typically at our higher caliber off-seasons, we throw in a static Drive Team (often a variation of our competition season drive-team), and also during all eliminations matches, as a courtesy to our partners.

With that said I can understand where your coming from, you want your team to be at your prime, and there's nothing wrong with that. I think at the end of the day it really comes down to personal/team preference, what you are going to this off-season to accomplish, and I don't think any of us on this forum can help make the decision.

If you end up going the route of letting everyone drive during off-season, I would not make it a total free for all and instill these rules:

1. Anyone on Drive Team at all for the event (ESPECIALLY the DRIVERS) should have put in a decent amount (1/2 - 1 hour) time practicing operating the robot.
2. If you didn't practice/train you don't drive.

We have had the open Drive team policy for ever and never had a problem until we went to Monty Madness. We had several rookies that felt that after only a run or two the week prior in our shop that they could do it (against us pushing them to practice more). While I'm not critiscing them, when their turn came up to drive, it was clear they didn't feel comfortable driving, they even said so themselves. The next event we attended we implemented this system, while still giving everyone a shot, and saw much better performance, and no one froze while being under the pressure of competition.

Either way I hope you have a great time, and best of luck!