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Unread 12-04-2013, 22:38
Anupam Goli's Avatar
Anupam Goli Anupam Goli is offline
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AKA: noops
FRC #1648 (G3 Robotics)
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Re: UNgracious UNprofessionalism

Quote:
Originally Posted by yarb65 View Post
Year in and year out this comes up. I have my opinion but I will hold it for now.

As a coach the biggest problem I have is explaining a percived inequity by parents. They often do not believe that mentors should be building the robot. They also question me about mentors setting the robot in the arena. I had one parent say to me that if we are using sports as the model what is the coach doing on the arena floor being the quarter back. I believe only students should be allowed on the arena floor.
Using the sports model, I'd say a mentor coach is more like the head coach of a baseball team. He writes the batting order, the fielding lineup, decides when to yank the pitcher, etc. That's what a coach is meant to do. I see no problem with a mentor being the coach of the drive team and helping set up the robot. The coach in this case helps position the robot (akin to writing the batting order and fielding positions), provides match strategy (deciding when to pinch hit, when to bunt, etc.) and keeps the drivers focused (mound visits, pep talks).

The OP had a pretty good point, and I'd hate to see the thread devolve into an argument about mentors vs students.

On topic:
I personally think FIRST should come out again and say that FRC is meant to be about inspiration, no matter who touches the final product. I don't know how effective the last time Woody said it was, but maybe people need a reminder during kickoff and during the pre-regional video that they record for every event. That, or instead of working on getting more FRC teams, we should work on getting much needed mentors and resources to those teams that exist today.
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