Quote:
Originally Posted by sanddrag
As a teacher, on top of my full time job, I've put in over 45 hours per week over each of the last two weeks (and so have some students) outside of the school day, and we're still behind. Being a real leader in this sport is a full time job, which is a lot on top of an already full time job.
Anyone agree with any of the above?
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I aboslutely understand where you are coming from. I am a 6th year coach (with no engineering background except what I have learned in FIRST). Up until this year I had 1 engineer that worked with us (this year we finally have 5). I am the only coach and because we work out of my classroom I can't leave the kids with the engineer while I go pick up parts/supplies etc. (district rules). I am also a full-time teacher (4 class preps a day as I teach 4 different classes)
and I don't know what insanity inspired me to do it but I returned to college this semester so tack on 2 senior level college classes to build/competition season.
We are what you would probably call an 'average' team but this is something we recognize and accept at this point in our development and it is mainly due to limited resources. It was with this in mind that we decided to focus all of our energy and talent on
one aspect of the game. We are not financially able to attend more than one regional and know that it is our one shot at making championships but with a powerhouse field (Robonauts, Robowranglers, Cryptonite, Texas Torque, and Kaos just to name a few) making championships is difficult at best for teams like ours.
Is this the year your team focuses one doing one thing really well? Who knows, that's something you guys have to decide together but as far as the killer schedule and money that goes with this I absolutely understand where you are. All you can do is dig deep and know that there are other coaches in the same boat you are and we are all paddling together (or bailing the water out in some cases
). Know that you have our moral support and that at the end of the day, no matter what your team accomlishes, you are doing a great thing for kids and are admired by many.
If you ever just need to vent or bang your head against the wall (while wearing saftey glasses of course
) PM me and I will be happy to listen and/or offer advice.
Keep your chin up, your safety glasses on, and don't let the magic smoke out of the electrical components and you'll do just fine
