One coach rule

[Kit Gerhart]

Ed and Raul, now that you have 'stuck your necks out,' I will do so as well.

I am now starting my seventh year as an engineer/mentor with our team. I have been involved because I feel that I am helping kids develop an interest in science and technology, but I have other, selfish reasons as well. I like being involved in competitions with machines, whether robots, model airplanes, or cars, and I like being "where the action is." The closest you can get to that as an adult member of a FIRST team is to be an on-field coach. I really like being in that position during matches, just as Woody likes starting the matches and Dean likes talking about FIRST while standing on his new invention.

I have been a coach for three of my six years on our team. I have earned the position largely because I "know the robot" and how it performs better than the other potential coaches, and I generally get along well with the students. I have lead the testing and evaluation our driver candidates most of my years of participation.

The bottom line is this. I am one of many adult mentors within FIRST who like being on stage during matches, and who feels that we have "earned" the chance to be there. There are a lot more of us than one per team. It is highly likely that with a "one coach" rule, I would never have had that opportunity because I am not the best negotiator on our team, and because I am not in an official "team leadership" position on the team. If there were only one coach, I would not have been that person, and I think I can safely say that, had I not had the opportunity to be a coach those three years, I would have "faded away" from involvement with our team years ago.

I don't expect to be "the" coach this year, not do I care too much because I have had my chance in previous years. We have other people on our team who would do a better job than I would in some ways, and who deserve the opportunity. The reason I agree strongly with Raul that 'this rule sucks' is that, had it been in place six years ago, it is very unlikely that I would still be involved in FIRST, and I am far from the only adult mentor who would be affected this way.

Lets all go have fun now.