[Allison K]

Differences
1. FLL teams have a maximum size of ten students, as opposed to the as many as you can handle/ as many as you can recruit style of FIRST.
Other than the obvious differences with the robot, I don't find FLL too far off from FIRST. The general ideals of Gracious Professionalism and Team work still apply. The build is somewhat longer, so a later start is detrimental. There's still stressful moments, and they're still worth it in the end.

Tips for new team...
1. Try and find at least one person who knows how to program, and I would suggest using robolab instead of the program that comes with mindstorms, if you can afford it. (It's not hard to learn since it's all GUI programming, but we've always had better luck starting out the season with somebody who's at )least played around with it before.)
2. Make sure the kids don't discount the research portion, it can be as much fun as the robot.
3. Have parents help! Even if they just keep the kids on task, that's a big step.

Help from FRC...
I would deffinitely recommend it. My FIRST team has 7-8 FLL teams that we mentor and it works out great. The older kids get the mentoring experience, and the younger kids have a great time working with high school students.

Good Luck!


~Allison