Quote:
Originally Posted by adlasa
Also, during strategy meetings with alliance members I see students routinely yield to the adult and not participate as actively in the conversation. The adult often seem to dominate the discussion because they are an authority figure.
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Apart from parts of your post that people have already answered, I think this one is the most important.
It is important to select a coach, whether student or adult, who can be assertive in decision making situations. On the other hand, the coach also needs to be able to take orders and cooperate with alliance captains, or the team that is best at strategy. I've seen plenty of student coaches who can give out orders to adult coaches, and the exact opposite.
If teams have an issue in which their student or adult coach is not assertive during a match, it might be a good idea to set up some sort of training exercise with good coaches and various scenarios they might have to deal with. Most times, student and adult coaches will concede control in a match to a coach on another team that is more highly regarded on the field. This is usually a good call for most teams. Another scenario is that coaches will concede control to the team who is the best scorer. Kids may see adult coaches as authority figures, but that might mean you need to select a student coach that knows when to be quiet and learn, and when to speak up. They must be confident in themselves, but should not have a false sense of confidence if they are inexperienced.
I think both adult and student coaches are necessary in FRC so that kids learn how to communicate with people in the real world who they see as authority figures. This is extremely important in the workplace because you will always run into superiors with whom you disagree. If kids learn how to deal with a situation like this through FRC, then they'll be better off in the long run.
Just my opinion on the matter. In the end, do what you feel is the best option for your team.