[Kevin Kolodziej]

As a driver in 2000, 2001, and 2002, I was coached by Brian Beatty on Team 71, and his insight into the game, his strategy sessions, and his approach to coaching were all huge inspirations to me as I transitioned from student to mentor. During my college career, I coached nearly every match that 1064 was in (sometimes switched with co-founder Lauren Halatek, former Wildstang Human Player), nearly every match that 1675 was in (sometimes switched with our lead teacher, who used to be a wrestling coach), and a large chunk of 1714's matches (more in 07 than 06, but whenever asked by their drive team). In 06, I actually coached both 1714 and 1675 in the eliminations, running from one side of the field for one quarter final match to the other side of the field for the next quarter final match (that didn't work out so well, and I won't do it again - its not conducive to good strategy when you get the two strategies mixed up!).

My background as a driver helped tremendously. My involvement with the build allowed me to make better decisions knowing how the robot was performing (or not). My rapport with the students made everyone comfortable and it was fun for everyone. There were times that I got too focused on our robot and missed something happening on the other side of the field that we could have done something about to change the outcome of the match - but there probably are few coaches who haven't had a similar experience.

Now that I have graduated college and moved into my professional career, this was the first year EVER that I did not step foot behind the lexan for a single match - not even a practice match. My involvement with the regionals on Thursday (inspecting) prevented me from coaching, and we wanted to be consistent between practice and qualifying since practice worked so well. One of our other teachers, who has never coached a sport before, stepped in and did a phenomenal job. His calmness behind the drivers allowed him to be a much more effective coach than I was. I assisted with strategy between matches and then updated him on my observations after each match. Needless to say, this was our best year ever, in terms of competition results.

I believe we had one match ever in the history of 1675 with a student coach. It went well enough, but we prefer to have adult mentors. Not only does the partnership continue on the field, but it just seems to work better with a more experienced mentor observing and communicating with the other coaches. Each team must find what works best for them, however, and each team will have a different story.