[drwisley]

When I moved my team after the 2010 season, student demographics changed to about 90% rookies. At the time we had been losing based on poor concepts / strategies. I came up with a preseason that may be of some use to you. That being said, the preseason changes year after year based on the strengths of your team and your particular goals.

Each weekly meeting (3 hrs) they watched the animation from a previous year. Read through a set of paired down robot rules and the game rules. Then I split them into groups of 4-6 students. They went through the strategy / concept process delivering a 1/2 scale drawing. Student groups then presented their concept to the larger team. We concluded by watching the videos of championship divisions and discussing our capabilities vs the winning strategies and designs.

Best of luck.