[BurtGummer]

What I've always thought about some rookie teams is, well, they really aren't rookie teams at all. As mentioned earlier, some of them have mentors with FRC experience, maybe even being on past teams, or team members have decided to start their own team. So the experience is there, but just under a larger, new number.

Take a look at our team. We don't have a single mentor. The two teachers we have are more of supervisors....they open the door and do their grading while we build a robot. None of us have prior FRC experience( or anything FIRST related, for that matter). We didn't have a machine shop to use, or complex power tools. For power tools we had a jigsaw and a power drill, that's it. No welders, lathes, drill presses, table saws, chop saws, or other helpful power tools. We had to spend as little as possible on non-KoP parts, because we didn't have any sponsors willing to sponsor those charges. We spent $750 total on non-KoP parts/supplies/metal. We had 5 dedicated students working on the robot. I was the only member who had mechanical experience and experience in building things, including electrical and programming. We had 13 days to design and build it.

Now, you can take a look at other rookie teams, some of which have at least one dedicated mentor, at least 1 dedicated sponsor for extra parts/supplies, a machine shop in their school, and members with previous FRC experience.

I'm not saying that ALL rookie teams are that way, but I have seen several that are.

Just thoughts that needed to exit my mind.