[connor.worley]

OP,

Don't give up on FRC. I love VEX to death but there's just something special about FRC to me. I don't think the points you mention are problems inherent to the program - rather, these are specific issues that you can work to address. I've been a student and a mentor and let me tell you that your mentors want nothing more than for you to be inspired and successful, even if it doesn't always seem that way. Mentors are only human. In my experience the teams with the best cultures are the ones where the students+mentors are friends outside of robotics. Invite everyone to a team barbeque and make an earnest attempt to get to know them, including mentors. It sounds corny AF but your friendship will be more important than whatever conflicts happen during the season.

People getting selected for drive team because of their parents is not typical. Have you spoken to your mentors about it? They can't read minds and knowing how the students feel about decisions does weigh on them.

Lastly, why does losing competitions, failing to get into champs, etc. create a toxic environment? Please elaborate. Failing is part of life and one of the more valuable lessons in FRC - learning to fail gracefully and iterate onwards.

Hope this helps somehow.