[DFTF] Things a Rookie Team Should Do in the Fall...

[rsisk]

A good idea would be to listen to the recent EWCP podcast: Effective Offseason Strategies.

Lots of good common sense in that podcast

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=97472

[jwfoss]

The best thing you could possibly do with a rookie team is get a kitbot chassis put together, or contact a local team who builds two robots and register for an local offseason event.

Seeing a "real" competition will hook your kids and get them motivated.

I would start contacting local veteran teams to go visit their shops and have their kids talk to yours. They may also be able to supply you with old KOP parts.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

There is nothing like building a robot and doing some team building exercises in the fall. Using an established program gives you a minimum of added work designing a program. A minimum would be using FLL to build a small robot and start programming. Both VEX and FTC are other programs. You don't need to register but you can use the rule books and game to start brainstorming sessions, design processes, etc. You can use any of the Science Olympiad stuff to foster team building. See who can make a structure that reaches a certain height in the least amount of time. Anything you can do to get 50 kids to start to recognize each other and think they are part of a team works. Some teams also do their community service in the fall. Seniors need help raking leaves, food pantries need non-perishables for Thanksgiving. Toys are needed for Christmas. All of those are great group projects.

[Phyrxes]

We are having our first fall meeting for new students this coming Saturday and we have been debating ideas back and forth.

Right now we are thinking of starting the day with the "new" students by using an "older but recent" game to introduce basic concepts, methods, and terminology before we go into the nuts and bolts of robot building.

A good number of our "new" students have a passing familiarity with vex as all middle schools in our school district have it but we have found students have some issues transitioning to FRC.

Hopefully this address our major issues of students understanding what is expected and what mentors or returning students are even talking about.

After we get them acclimated our major offseason projects are:
Rework the drive train (it is too heavy)
Rework the electronics board (no more rats nest of wires!)
Build a "ball shooter" from aim high since we started with rack and roll and we have never built one before.

[Brandon Holley]

River Rage is definitely something you should put on the schedule. It's a great event for bringing new members onto the team to see what the competition is actually like. We've often found that getting a new student to River Rage often solidifies their status on the team for the year. Once they see other teams competing on that field, the ignition is triggered inside for them to build their own and compete like the teams they are watching are doing.

Savage Soccer is also another great way to hook new members in the fall. WPI does a great job coming up with a game and hosting FREE competitions using Vex kits. We've competed the past 5 or so years and its been a great experience for our team in the fall. I would highly recommend it as it gives a great experience in terms of seeing a new game, making strategy decisions, going through a mini build season and also competing and working with alliance partners etc.

Besides that, just doing everything you can to get yourselves ready for a build season. Fundraising, gathering mentors and other resources, teaching skills to members in the build season such as CAD, code writing and project managing. All of those things will help your team come build season.

-Brando

[Jessica Boucher]

I'm going to echo Brandon here. You will LOVE Savage.

It's a unique game every year made with a field that costs less than $50, it's Vex-based but allows for everyday materials (lexan, cardboard, I've even seen plastic forks...) so you're not spending an arm and a leg, and the kids get tons of practice. It's free so you can have multiple teams, and it's only one day. I can't recommend the event enough.