Ontario Teams in Jeopardy for 2012/2013?

[BrendanB]

Originally Posted by Gregor

As easy as that sounds, it isn't so simple.

1. Who would supervise us?
2. Where can we get access to a shop?
3. Who would supervise us(again)?
4. How would we miss school for competition, as parents don't like unexcused absences.
5. What if someone gets hurt?
6. What about insurance?
7. What about storage?

Another huge problem would be figuring out who "owns" the current robot and material? The school does (in most cases), so we would be starting from scratch. We would need new everything, from a cRIO to plywood to aluminum to wheels.

And to make matters even worse, we have less than 4 months to kickoff to sort this out, and I'm sure there are many other problems that I have missed.

So yes, there are multiple reasons as to why teams can't run without school support.

I hope the teachers get things sorted out so life goes back to normal but as you said, you do have 4 months which is better than no time!

1. Have your current leaders up and left or is this under assumption. Parents? Sponsors?

2. Who says you need a metal shop to make a robot? There are a ton of successful teams that operate out of garages, vacant buildings, and parents basements using hand tools, power tools, and a chop saw. It can be done my first team has been in their coaches basement for 8 seasons with much success!

3. See 1.

4. Talk to your principle/head of your school.

5. Good question! This may depend on where you end up meeting/working out of. Even when we met at our coaches house we signed liability forms and had shop training.

6. You have me there!

7. Depends on your workspace but if you keep it organized you won't need much space.

I wish it was easier to answer these questions but maybe you should also talk to other teams in your area and around Ontario.