If you want resources on FRC impact, the FIRST website still has great material even if it is harder to find than in the past.
http://www.firstinspires.org/node/2521
http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/impact
http://www.firstinspires.org/about/p...cs_competition
Probably the biggest thing the team that reached out for help can do is get sponsors and mentors. If the school sees they don't have to put in as much effort to run the team they are more likely to support it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chief Hedgehog
...and the other lost their lead mentor so the school is looking to shut down FRC.
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I'm going to be honest, if a team loses its lead mentor and is in a position where the school is considering shutting it down, it might be best for them to fold. That may sound harsh, but I will use my current team as an example.
2662 has never been a powerhouse in our region, but they were a decent team that focused more on community involvement than the robot, and were good enough to win a regional in 2011. Their lead coach was a teacher at the school and left after the 2013 season. Most of the team graduated that year as well. What followed was a collapse of the team as they had an awful 2014 season where they were essentially rookies again with a new lead teacher, mostly new students, and minimal mentor carryover. It was bad enough that when I joined in October 2014 they only had 5 students return from the 2014 season and had to get another new lead teacher since the previous lead did not want to go through another season in charge. They were rookies for the second year in a row. I brought enough FIRST experience with me that we were able to keep the team alive for 2015 and in 2016 we stabilized and had a solid year, but this last season is the first real productive season 2662 has had since losing their lead in 2013.
Losing a lead mentor or teacher is hard. If a team has a solid mentor base or student leadership they can step up to fill their shoes and figure out the new leaders to continue on. But if no one can fill that leadership hole and someone is thrown into it who is not prepared, the odds of success are not good. 2662's 2014 season was mostly a waste of our sponsors' money and our lead teacher's sanity, considering how few students were inspired enough to return to FIRST the next year. They would have been much better off doing VRC instead, and likely would have for 2015 if I had not taken over as the lead that year.
It sounds like this team is fairly dependent on their school for financial/mentor support, from your post. It's mid-October already, and if they don't have a solid leader in place now they are probably not going to be successful in FRC this year unless you can air drop in a few experienced mentors that can work with them full time. I'd strongly consider that it may make sense for them to go VRC until they are on solid ground. It is much easier for a student only team or inexperienced teacher led team to have inspiring success in VRC than FRC.