Drive Team

[PayneTrain]

Last year we ran

Driver: Build Officer
Operator: Electrical Lead/Electrical Lead Temporary Replacement
Human Player: Assembly Lead
Coach: Some Loser Alumnus (ME!)

Last year was the only time in the entire history of the team we ran a non-student coach. Every position was filled in a previous year, with myself last DCing in 2012 and 2010 and the driver, operator, and human player all on the 2013 team. When I rejoined the team full-time in the winter of 2014, there was no student anointed and/or trained for the position in a game where coaching was more contentious and intense than 2012. We recently have had students that could hold down the position, with 2014 as an aberration.

I'm still not sure if having an adult or student coach is the better fit for this team, but I do know that this year I don't have any plans to be the primary drive coach.

The option is available for us to plug in four experienced drive team members again, but this year I am working with the students and mentors to identify a new coach that might cause 3 new members to join the drive team.

Some team members (and I assume some people in FIRST in general) think the alpha and omega of drive team selection is how well you do your job. When I was DC in 2012, we had a talented human player, driver, and operator for the jobs.

They were all impossible to work with alone, much less in a group. When each person could highlight their talents we did well, but we could get btfo'd if one person was having a bad day.

Likewise, the drive team members that have been involves for the last tow years may not be the best people on the team behind the sticks (I have no idea if anyone else is better), but they are at every meeting working on a robot with the intention of it being a winning robot they are on the field with. They kept each other "in check", babysat the robot, led up repairs, communicated well with each other (and me), and were good at listening and understanding the rules. Last year, they did their jobs so well to the point that I was probably the weak link. We picked a rookie to fill in as operator at Championships. He was still remembering the buttons while we were packing up, but the dude was, and still is, straight up dedicated to the team and was unquestionably the best choice for the job.

The drive team needs to be the four best people you can pick with the capacity to understand the drive team, but ymmv.