What constitutes founding another team?

[Wendy Holladay]

Ok, so I posted the "what constitutes mentoring" now I'll post what constitutes founding another team. Many claim to found teams. What does that mean? Introducing them to FIRST? Helping them their first build season? Getting them funding? etc.

We have spoken to hundreds about FIRST and many have formed teams thru their association with us but I don't like to stretch things. Did we found them?

What do teams mean by "we founded 5 teams this season"?

[quinxorin]

In 2009 or 2010, our team helped convince the Livonia school board to start a robotics team in its district and to issue a $5000 loan to the team. We then mentored them through their first season.

[HannahF]

Originally Posted by Wendy Holladay

Many claim to found teams. What does that mean? Introducing them to FIRST? Helping them their first build season? Getting them funding? etc.

I generally take it to mean all three of those things working together. I think to be able to say you "found" a team you have to be apart of setting up the info structure of the team and help to make sure they are set on a path to be stable in the future. When we say we founded a team we usually mean we started the initial contact with the school or someone at the school approached us early in the process, so that we can help them through the first season and beyond.

For example my team has a partnership with team 3974. One of our mentors is an Alumni of 3974's school and in 2010 he approached the school about starting a team. During the 2011 season we introduced teachers and administrators to FIRST, sat in on meetings about fundraising to help them secure funding from sponsors and grants, helped them recruit students in the spring/fall, and shared our build space in the fall so that they could build and compete with a robot in offseasons as a pre-rookie team. During this season we included them in all our brainstorming sessions, we shared field elements mentors, and they also have been coming with us to various outreach events this summer. For me watching them win Highest Rookie seed and Rookie Inspiration at MAR Championship was just as exciting as watching us win the Chairman's award because I feel connected to both teams.


This of course is my own definition of founding a team, and just one example and I am sure other teams will define it differently

Hope this helps
~Hannah