Just to add on to what I said before:
To tell you the truth I don't think that being a leader is neccesarily fun. Our team did get to the championship, but it came with a cost. On my team, 2/3 of the stress came from organizational and social issues. There have been some ugly political issues on my team. I would prefer not to say what they are in public, but I can say that we have a somewhat similar situation on our team as on yours Barker. If you really want to know what I am talking about see team governance or email me
d.schneid07@gmail.com. Although your situation was bad Barker, I think ours is worse. Even if we do have a team next year, it might consist of one student, the one who posted team governance.
For me, being the founder and team captain of our team has been too stressful. On the other hand, I always wonder who else could really be the team captain. We have a really small team and there are not that many people to choose from. Many kids on our team are friends with eachother and if we were to have just the students vote on the next team captain (for when I graduate) it could turn out to be ugly.
I am not sure if I was appointed team captain because of my qualities, friendship, being the founder, or just because other people did not want to bear the load. There are definitely a few students who dislike me, does not mean I did a bad job. I am not sure.
I did not really assert my authority very much. The adults handled most of the organizational stuff. The biggest problem on our team is that one person has real disciplinary power on our team, the mentors and I have almost no political power. We can discipline the students to some degree, but only one person (a teacher) had the say in major disciplinary issues such as whether a certain student should be kicked off or not. This person was not our coach as it turned out. The best advice I can offer is do not have one person in charge of everthing. The coach, the mentors and the student leader should have the most political power. Sure the students can discuss things, but you have to understand that FIRST is supposed to simulate how a business or corporation would work. In a corporation, the boss works hard and therefore has the most political power. This may be hard to believe but on our team, the boss or coach works hard but has no political power whatsover. I know it just sounds like I am just complaining about my team's problems, but I hope this gives people some perspective.
I agree with both KenWittlief and artdutra04. Whoever is the leader will need support from adults. Being a leader is dificult, and you need adults to help with major issues. As having already done the program one year, you should pass your knowledge along to new students. If you turn out to be the leader, make sure that is someone who could replace you when the year is up.
Again, I hope that what I saying is helpful.
The biggest thing I have learned this year is that there is no perfect way to run a FIRST team. No matter what you do, there will be someone on your team who is completly dissatisfied with how your team is run. There is no perfect leader.