[GreyingJay]

When we started our community team we knew it was going to be a challenge and an opportunity. We have had a fantastic first year so far - ranked 9th out of 41 in quals, 6th place alliance captain at our first regional. I attribute that success to having clear goals as a team. We started talking about these goals long before kickoff. We also took into account lots of advice from other FRC mentors and coaches, and Karthik's strategic design seminars.

The first goal was keeping it simple. This is a recommended strategy, and we were constrained anyway both by (lack of) resources and build space. We had no inventory of parts and not a huge budget. And our build spaces - a library and the city gym/pool/recreation complex - meant we could set up (and put away) simple shop tools like a drill press each meeting, but basically nothing else.

So we knew, even before kickoff, that whatever the game was, we were going to basically build an MCC. On kickoff weekend we decided on a few good things we would aim for, and designed a simple robot based on that. For Stronghold, that meant: be able to get over any ground defense and go under the low bar. We don't climb, our one mechanism was designed for shooting into the low goal only, we don't have extra mechanisms to open Category C defenses. We used the KOP, COTS, simple parts from stock extrusions. Easy, cheap, fast to build.

The second and third goals we decided on was to build a practice robot and to attend two regionals. We really feel that the ability to learn from your experiences at the first regional, then improve and try again, is a big part of the experience. Doing better at the second competition than you did at the first one is a measurable success that your team can take home, even if you still didn't make it to elims.

If your team struggles to have a working robot by competition, my recommendation is to fix that first. Build something solid, simple, reliable. Have it finished before Bag and Tag. This will do so much for your team in so many ways. Morale will be up. You'll be able to test it at home and fix "the stupid stuff" BEFORE competition. Your drive team can practice at home. Your mentors can have a break. You'll be able to use the practice matches when you get to competition. Your robot, because it's simple, won't break down or glitch out. You'll do what you set out to do (and nothing more), consistently, every time. You won't become a powerhouse team overnight, but you'll taste a lot of small successes that will excite and encourage your students. Build on that, and slowly but surely, you'll get there (at least that's our hope!)

Good luck to your team and to anyone else reading this who is in a similar position!