Quote:
Originally Posted by DaneeR
what if they made a rule- NO PRACTICE BOTS!!!!! Our little team has a hard enough time affording and building one bot. How we've done so well against teams that have such a ridiculous advantage is amazing (depending on the year anyways- this is my first year, last year our team bombed, but many years have done quite well)
I think it's good to make everyone take some time off. I just saw my kid has a C in geometry- which he finds laughably easy. not cool. He's been obviously blowing off study time for robot and musical (which of course have to be the same 8 week-ish period since we do early districts).
Maybe there should be more restrictions, like not being able to spend more then 30 hours per week on the bot?? I don't know.
But some restrictions to help smaller teams with less funds would be nice. Bag or no bag.
If we did have more time with the bot, that sure would be nice. Lots of stuff we never got to test!!!! thankfully we do go to 2 districts, which is probably why we often manage to do well.
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Welcome to FRC!
A couple of things:
A part of FIRST is engaging with the community in order to bring in funds... Being in a small town is a disadvantage in a lot of ways, but in Palymra, you do have access to some healthy corporations. Your team should reach out to them and seek sponsorship. I don't see Dechert Dynamics Corporation listed as a sponsor for you - a machining firm base in your town of population 8,000. They would be a wonderfully natural fit for you - if not in terms of cash, likely in terms of access to some very good equipment and/or mentors.
Another part of FIRST is spreading the inspiration. I don't know how many kids your team has, but see if you get get close to 25 or 30 active members. This provides the manpower to build an additional bot. The local high school has about 1,000 kids and has solid academics - surely there are at least 30 with nerd-like tendencies?
A major part of developing a strong program is building the foundation with kids, sponsors, and mentors. The vast majority of programs can do just that.... It takes work, but a lot of businesses love giving money to robotics programs - especially local tech, engineering and machining firms that look at us as training grounds for their future employees.
As for the C- in geometry. Yes, the kids need to learn balance. Our kids don't do the spring theater production. Good high schools have many great opportunities and it is not possible to do them all. Kids have to make choices. (We lost a lot of kids to marching band the last couple of years.)