[KrazyCarl92]

We had an issue a few years back during a Regional where another mentor on our team felt the need to start telling the drivers how to play the game when they were on the field. This same mentor was completely unaware of the number of game pieces that could legally be possessed by a robot and was also unaware of our robot's game piece manipulation sequence. Luckily, our drivers were savvy enough to recognize that the "advice" being disseminated was not something they should listen to. When I politely pointed out to this mentor that the advice that he was giving did not comply with the rules, he replied "The rules are not my thing." My wording was something like "I recognize you would like to help the team succeed. However, the best way you can help is by either reading and understanding the rules, or allowing those who have read and thoroughly understand the rules to work on strategy." This did not motivate this mentor to read the rules, but I believe it helped him realize that by not reading and understanding the rules he had in a way given up any claim to strategic input.

It was a frustrating situation to have a mentor who had not read the rules telling our drivers to play the game a certain way. But on the other hand, it is not vital that mentors read the rules to contribute to a team's success and inspire students. We have one mentor who has been welding FRC robots for 23 years. He has not read the rules but respectfully asks questions to verify that, for the function he performs on our team, he does what is necessary for us to comply with them. While he is welding our frame each year, he teaches students about the safety, geometry, and chemistry considerations of welding an FRC robot and has students assist him with fixturing our frame pieces to prepare for the welds. By leveraging his vast experience we are able to inspire our students and provide them an opportunity they probably wouldn't get otherwise, while building award winning robots.

These arguments are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I would say the importance of understanding the rules depends on the role of any particular mentor has on the team. However, an absolute necessity for ALL mentors is to be willing to accept and respect the time and effort other team members (mentors and students) put into thoroughly understanding the rules.