[Kevin Ray]

This year, for the first time, we have a dedicated driving mentor. A former student who is now an engineer for our sponsor (perfect FIRST paradigm) recognized that the driver was almost as important as the robot in a competition--though others might argue that the driver is more important. Anyway, he volunteered to set up a driving selection/training program which began in early fall. The team constructed a "robust" driver training robot complete with a full sized car battery for endurance. He developed a rubric for measuring various driver attributes and set up a training area in which any member of the team who made the initial cut would then have a great deal of practice time to see who had the best overall skillset.
The training was very intensive, even going so far as to create artificial stress in an attempt to see how drivers might respond under game conditions. The results were positive. We were able to empirically measure various attributes of each of the drivers and were very happy with the results. Unfortunately for us, however, the top three drivers are seniors and we'll have to select a new driver next year.
Another positive aspect of this selection method removes the argument, "I worked harder than he did and I deserve it more", or, "I'm a better driver and he was selected because of...". After each round of testing results are posted and everyone knows that the facts don't lie, it's not subjective anymore.