I've been on and around a lot of teams over nine seasons--teams that have hung banners and teams that won a thing--and I believe that a competitive, successful, sustainable team starts at the top and draws the buy-in from the rank and file.
When 2815 started in 2009, we had an all-star mentor team led by Stephen Kowski (previously of 312, 1369, and 1902) and Donn Griffith (previously of 343 and once FVC Director). If you could go pro in the most literal sense in FRC, these would be your guys. Both had robots on Einstein in their past, and more banners than I have wall space. It went for two great seasons--five judged awards, Palmetto silver in 2009, seeding 11th on Curie as rookies--then graduation and job pressures caused them to have to pull away from the team.
Who was left? Three teachers, about a dozen kids, and a schlub with a marketing degree (that would be me). But, we had the mindset that this team is going to contend for the title every single year. The robot wasn't nearly as pretty that year, but it put us on a new level: two-time regional champion.
The year after that, we lost a teacher and some of our blue-chip kids as they spun off their own team. Plus, our entire drive team graduated. Even worse, we barely even got a slot at Peachtree and had to grind for the money. (Fortunately, our teacher is a beast at grants.) The robot looked marginally better and ran far better than its predecessor. It took the backup gods smiling upon us, but we still managed to be the first team to walk into Palmetto as the defending champion and do it again.
Now we're on the precipice of the 2013 season, and we lost our main teacher and a second one, our lead student programmer, our driver (yes, again), and our lead college student is a senior with the classwork that goes with that. However, none of these people have left without instilling what I think is the essential element of our team: no matter what is broken, no matter who you're playing, no matter where we are in the standings, you get that robot ready, go out there, and
win anyway.
It sounds like at this point, you
are the top. Get your core group together and get them fired up for the season. EWCPcasts, old match footage of The Blue Alliance, shine up the old robot, heck get on the tables and start
Sandstorming on Kickoff morning. (It works for us.)
But if you get that four or five together, and they each bring a lackey/minion/friend/underclassman with them, you start the seed of something. That can lead in whatever direction your team chooses to pursue--regional titles, Chairman's, technical awards, expanded mentorship, even just getting into a second regional or making eliminations. With your current position and resources, some of those goals will be more attainable than others in 2013. Keep building your base, start doing side events for fun or profit, and it's all possible.