[DaveL]

Hi All:
Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful replies. I plan to share your perspectives with the students and see if our approach can be improved.

Like many who commented about their students being involved with other activities, my team is no different. They are busy filling out college applications, working on a 2yr IB degree, attending a variety of clubs as well as participating on sports teams. As such, we mostly focus on training rookies in the fall.

According to the school we are a club. In the fall, we behave just like any other after school club. Then in January the magic happens. Our meetings switch to evening times, we collect dues and require a certain amount of build hours to travel with the team.

To the comments about doing both. We are, but it may not be the best approach for us.
We typically attract 40 new students in the fall, but only a small percentage end up attending the winter meetings on a regular basis.

Since the team wants to do better in the competition, I will approach them with your comments and see if a change in our procedures are in order.

Dave