[Anupam Goli]

While
on the topic of student coaches yielding to adult coaches:

While this year we will have a mentor coach, last year our team used a student coach. Our student coach was not a pushover to other coaches, and would agree to work on the best strategy for the alliance, no matter whose it was. I partially like to attribute our student coach's ability to work with other student and adult coaches to our team culture. Our students and mentors not only work hand-in-hand, but the line separating student and mentor is very blurry, almost nonexistent. Most of us see each other as people we're working with (I've been on the end of many jokes, and have retorted with my own many a time). The blurring of this line makes our students not only assert themselves, but gives them the confidence to stick with their plan and respectfully engage in discussions with mentors and adults, something that really helps not only with student coaching, but also with talking to judges and professionals.

Student coaches and adult coaches are going to have to work with eachother, no matter what level of FRC they're at. The best way to quell fears of mentor coaches overpowering student coaches (It doesn't happen often, in fact i've never seen it happen, but i have less match experience than many) is to have the student coach not only be confident in his or her own strategies, but also see mentor coaches as equals on the field.