[GaryVoshol]

I think part of the problem is that we can't predict which teams will succeed without first allowing them to fail.

Three examples of recent rookies in Michigan that have succeeded immensely, by whatever measures you choose to use: 2337, 2834, 2771. These teams hit the road running and never looked back, and there are others like them all around the country and world.

Then there's another team that shall remain nameless to protect the innocent (and my mistaken impressions of them). In their rookie year, their robot had to be rebuilt at the regional (and RE-built is a generous wording of the process). I thought they were hopeless. The next year, I don't recall the details, but I still thought they were hopeless. Last year, they started coming into their own - maybe they're not hopeless. This year they should end up smack in the middle of the Michigan rankings and have a good chance of qualifying for State. Also somewhere along the line their teacher/mentor got a new job and they lost him. I would have given up on them as hopeless; I'm glad somewhere there was someone else that didn't give up on them. They also have great enthusiasm for volunteering.

Contrast those with teams that were formed last year or the year before and are no longer here. What happened? I'm sure every failure story is as unique as every success story for sustainability. But I have noticed one factor: You can't just throw money at a team and expect them to survive. There has to be leadership and there has to be enthusiasm in students and mentors alike. How do we get that enthusiasm and leadership? If we knew that, we would have the problem solved. One thing that definitely can help is established teams mentoring new teams. If your team has a history of at least several years, consider mentoring a new team next year. (Mentoring teams shouldn't be expected only to be those teams with low numbers; as an example look at 1114 and when they started mentoring others.) It couldn't hurt and might help. Even if you're struggling yourself to stay afloat, what you learn in helping a new team might just help your team as well.