[Conor Ryan]

0) Before the season starts, do a SWOT analysis of what your team is good at and what you are going to struggle with. Year after year teams struggle with the same issues (ex. Programming) and do nothing to fix it.

1) Do you really need that expensive machine? Probably not. For every 5k+ machine I've seen a team buy, I often wonder why they didn't buy 3 new control systems and made a significant investment into the programming that the team does.

1b) Invest in your weaknesses! Is programming a challenge? Make it the team goal to over come that challenge and prioritize it's success over everything else.

2) Push students into stretch roles! Do not give out responsibility based off of seniority. This is an educational experience and you can embrace it! People can amaze you if they are given the opportunity.