MORT Team 11 Weeks 1-3

[thedries]

Originally Posted by Alex.q

Why does Mort Beta have a low team number if it is a relatively new team?

Also, I thought my team was large! We are the largest team in MN (last time I checked), with about 80 students. We started doing multiple FTC teams for JV, so I was just wondering why you guys decided to do a second FRC team instead. I think for us was that we didn't have the money, mentors, and resources to launch a second FRC team, so FTC's smaller scale was helpful.

We were given the low number due to our unique circumstance, since we really aren't a rookie team, so we ended up with an unused lower team number even though this is our first season.

Due to our size, we had to come up with a way for everyone to participate who wanted to. We had toyed around with the idea of the FTC team and debated between the two for a while, and I think it's a great route to go. We really wanted to have another FRC team so that first year students could get the full experience before moving on the MORT, but we made it clear to ourselves that everything had to be new for Beta. We secured additional funding from the district for the new team, called back alumni to mentor the team (almost every mentor graduated from MORT) and are fortunate enough to have another room for the second team to work out of.

It's not easy, and it's not for everyone, but we think it brings a great dynamic to both the team and the school.