[Bill Gold]

Please, please be careful if you’re thinking of starting a new team. In California we’ve had problems before with starting new teams and there not being enough funding in a given area to support the veteran and rookie teams in that area. I would actually advise against starting a new team in that area, and suggest an alternative which would be to get new schools involved in an existing team. Then, in a year or two (when you’re absolutely sure there’s enough funding for all teams in the area to survive amicably) you can spin off a rookie team or two (this way the rookies aren’t exactly rookies, and can be more competitive than the typical rookie team, too). I would be very disappointed to see one or more teams in the Cal Poly Pomona area fold due to the introduction of a rookie or more than one rookie team. Please think about this option and the possible effects (local and global in FIRST) of starting a rookie team before you fully commit to starting a one.

-Bill