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Re: Keep FIRST in Michigan (FiM) from killing FIRST Lego League
I've been watching this from the sidelines for a while.
Like Ed, I have reservations about the FLL age group change, more so than the FTC age limits.
First, when it was decided to not have high school FTC in Michigan, it didn't affect many existing programs, because FTC was pretty new. This one hits a lot of existing FLL teams, teams that had their own internal progression from 4th or 5th grade through middle school. I have heard very little about this change before (but then, I'm not a coach), so I don't know how much existing teams have been able to prepare.
Second, it essentially makes FLL a 4th-5th grade program, because that's the setup for the majority of elementary schools in the state. (There are some exceptions, such as a few middle schools without 6th grade, but not many. And what about those few cases where middle school starts in 5th, or where it is just K-8 without a elementary/middle school split?) Just the time that kids are beginning to master FLL and could do something spectacular, they'll be aged out.
Third, while I believe many 7th and 8th graders are ready for FTC, some are not, and I'm pretty sure the majority of 6th graders are not ready. In fact, the international standard age for FTC doesn't even start until 7th grade.
Fourth, do we have the support for FTC tournaments? If existing middle school FLL teams turn into FTC teams, there would be 100-200 new teams. Are there events? How about up north? It took 5 years to get a FRC event in the UP, how long will it take for FTC? And what do teams do in the meantime?
I will continue to support FLL and FRC as I have in the past. (I tried FTC one year, but with 3 rule sets going through my mind, I didn't feel I could give it a fair effort and still maintain my standards in FLL and FRC.)
I'm afraid that we will see a big drop in FLL teams (simply because we've cut the age eligibility in half) but without a corresponding increase in FTC teams. I hope not - I hope I will be proven wrong. But I'm not convinced yet.
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(since 2004)
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