[snoman]

hi we( myself and three other mentors) manage 2 small teams 3134 girls and 3275 boys. 18 and 10 students respectively. some are also involved in other activities and it is hard. we have a small core group of 7-8 total. on the commitment side our students log hrs. the top 4 from each team are granted a spot on the trip to the regional, then they and the mentors go over a process to get 8 students from each team to go o the trip
one thing i recommend is not to take on too much in any aspect. we have never gone for any of the additional awards thus far (just dont have the man or woman power). dont get to far out on robot complexity. try and find a niche for each student (assigning ppl to teams ie build, PR, media, doesn't seem to work to well for us. the students need to be able to contribute in a way they feel comfortable (at least at first). students may have to make a choice as to what they want to be involved with for ec. activities. but we as mentors try to make as much time available as possible.

good luck!!!