[tomead]

VEX would be a great experience for new members. With the competition being year round they could have a great deal of experience in designing and competing well before the FRC game release and build season. VEX is also much easier to change and allows you go through multiple iterations with ease. Getting used to programming with RobotC or PROS will also expose them to at least the logic needed for programming in Java, and they can get a good grasp on using sensors.

I think most teams who have students progressing from other robotics platforms to FRC can tell you that those students have a firmer grasp on building, programming, and designing robots.