[FIRSTgirl675]

Team 675 is a large team of about 50 students, and we tend to have the same issue as you. We have a core, or functional group of about 20 people, and the other 30 aren't as into it or are not active.

The thing that I have noticed is that the difference between the functional group and the rest is that the functional group is very into the program (and spends every waking moment at school) and the others aren't as into it (and are not there that often). This may be your team's issue, and I'm sure there are many teams that have this issue. If this is the issue that you have, then it is going to be hard for you to get people that are not into the program to be at school to work on the robot.

One thing that 675 does is before the season starts we have weekly 1 or 2 hour training sessions beginning in September in almost every aspect of our team (some parts of the team have this 2 times a week to make sure that all material is covered in time). Not only does this have everyone ready for the season, but it will also tell you who is going to be in your functional group and who isn't. Doing this can also get rid of people that are dead weight and are not going to be a worthy member of the team.

Some ways you can try to get people to be more active in your team is to require a certain number of hours at school during the build season to be part of the team and to have the opportunity to go to competition. Also, having community outreach events and fundraisers throughout the year to try to get more people doing things on the team.

Hope this helps. Good luck!