Our coach takes match strategy very seriously, and will usually have scouted out teams that we will be with for a while. He comes back to the pit and we send over a mechanical or other group to help them out if they're in some sort of trouble. We usually stick around and watch if they say it's fine, and offer assistance anyway.

You won't be able to change much of the rule system, but you can change how your team rolls with part of the game, and change how you work within the system. Good luck next year!