[Brian C]

Yes it IS a tough lesson to learn but it is a good lesson.

Just like in real life, information can be a key element to both your and your team's success.

We mentor 4 teams or varying experience, one is a rookie this year. We've been teaching them how to scout by looking at archived matches from regionals so far this year. We also have the experienced teams do some practice scouting as well.

The students make up their own scouting sheets and refine them throughout the practice time.

The scouting team also sends down match data to the drive team to help them strategize before each qualifying match. The veteran teams we work with have embraced it well. FWIW we've found that explaining to the team how critical scouting is to the overall success has helped them realize that it is a very important contribution.

Oh and the reason we still use paper and pens/pencils is because they NEVER need batteries.