I agree with Mike to a point, in that a "farm system" would help get the kids up to speed and ready to participate more quickly and with less instruction. As a mentor for Mike's teams and others, I can say that the kids were almost never the problem or a hindrance to creating an "elite" team.
If you look at the parks and schools around GA, you will see millions of dollars' worth of athletic fields and infrastructure for sports. The campus of the two schools with which I have been involved in FRC have far more land dedicated to athletic competition than to scholastic education. I am not saying athletics are bad, but if the school had dedicated 1% as much time and budget to the FRC team as they do to the football team, we could have built a dynasty.
In fact, I have found the school to be the biggest enemy of the FRC team. They contribute no money to the team, and other than a place to work, offer nothing to the team (the county is a different story, they do contribute). If a teacher wants to volunteer his or her time great, but teachers do have lives to live and classes to teach. I would be willing to bet that the "elite" teams, like 1114, 2056, 148 etc. either have great school support, or are entirely separate from the school (that would be my preference).
Imagine if there was a job like the coach of the football team, where his or her job is to go out and win the state championship, but for FRC. A paid, full time position, perhaps with assistants. Access to the work-space would be assured so that students could access and work on the robot when needed, instead of when the school was open.
Mike worked hard and was building an elite team:
- In 2008, his team made it quarterfinals on Archimedes, and won the world championship creativity award.
- In 2009, his team was on the first seed alliance at Peachtree, Palmetto, world championships (Galileo), IRI and GRITs. They won Palmetto and GRITs.
- In 2010, his team won Peachtree and competed in the quarterfinals on Galileo
- In 2011 Again won Peachtree, and was the #1 seed on Galileo, and made it to the semifinals at world championships.
After that, Mike moved to a different school, and support from the school got even worse, the team was competitive in 2012, and in 2013 and 2014, they didn't even have a team. The kids wanted it back and re-entered FRC in 2015, but again, school support was pretty much non-existent.
If you want teams in GA to be competitive there are several things that would help:
- Either get the teams out of the schools (expensive) or get more support from the schools.
- Recognize the achievements made by the kids, reward excellence.
- Keep in mind that this is a competition, outcomes are important, and should not be decided by judicial fiat.
- GA FIRST needs to follow the rules and guidelines set forth by FIRST.
Just my thoughts on the matter.