[Mike Betts]

Originally Posted by aaeamdar

From team 1719:

We have, on our team, a member who is in 8th grade. The rule for who can be a driver and who cannot says effectively that the driver must be a pre-college team member. Our question is, what does "member" mean? We've asked our rules people, searched here, and the rules, and usfirst.org, but can't seem to find anything.

In other words, can someone on the team be 5 years old? What exactly defines a member?

Thanks in advance from Team 1719 for your help.

Paul Dennis
Team 1719
Baltimore, MD

Paul,

In the past, we have had 8th graders as part of the FIRST team. However, IFI and VEX did not exist then...

There is absolutely nothing in the rules that states that you can not have a young driver. However...

The pressure on the operator's shoulders is immense. I have seen seniors who did not have the maturity to perform well under pressure. I have also seen freshmen who managed themselves extremely well on stage.

It really depends on the character of the individual.

Regards,

Mike