New rookie team

[EDesbiens]

Hey guys!

I just decided to give myself a pretty cool challenge, in my opinion... After three cool years on Evolution 2626, I decided to create my own team. So, i'm the only student on the team for the moment and I would like you to help me...

First of all, my main language is french (I'm from Québec, Canada) and I am not really good at writing in english... So could somebody please take a look at my website (frci.weebly.com) and my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/frcteami) and give me a feedback on the texts? It would be really appreciated!

Second of all, I would like to know if you guys have any crazy ideas that I could try this year on my team... I want to act differently then others to inspire the people around the team...

Finally, do you know resources for rookie teams that could be useful? Grants, robot parts... Anything?

Thank you for your support!

[Oblarg]

Cool idea for a team name, and nifty logo. I dig it.

Now, if you want to start a rookie team, here are some tips:

1) Find mentors. As many as you possibly can. This is the single most important thing you can do, and if you don't do it well you cannot succeed.

2) Have a plan. Make sure every person in the team administration has a clearly-defined role that they and everyone else knows, and that they are able and willing to perform. Try to stick to pre-determined schedules as much as possible - people at meetings need to know what they're supposed to be doing. I've seen what happens if you're not good about this, and it's disastrous.

3) Work within your means. This goes for any team, but is especially salient for rookies. Trying for too ambitious a goal will much more often result in failure and disappointment than success and inspiration. Figure out what you can do with what you have, and do that well.

[EDesbiens]

Thank you for your advices

For point 3, the thing is that this team was created to be ambitious... Since it's my fourth year in an FRC team, I would like to try new things...

I'll try to apply your ideas! Thank you again

[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by EDesbiens

Thank you for your advices

For point 3, the thing is that this team was created to be ambitious... Since it's my fourth year in an FRC team, I would like to try new things...

I'll try to apply your ideas! Thank you again

Working within your means doesn't mean that you can't be ambitious. It just means that you should make sure that your ambition does not outstrip what you can realistically achieve.

It's also worth bearing in mind that, in FRC, there are many directions in which you can innovate other than the strictly technical, which may be better-suited to the resources of rookie teams. Finding new and innovative ways to interact with your community and promote interest in science and technology is just as important a part of FIRST (if not moreso) as the actual robot.

[EDesbiens]

Oh, I didn't understand that expression

And yeah, that's true... I'm working on the community aspect too (well, I try but I'm not the best for that point!).

[Shrub]

If you need help with French-English/English-French translations let me know! I'll do my absolute best.

[EDesbiens]

Originally Posted by Shrub

If you need help with French-English/English-French translations let me know! I'll do my absolute best.

I try my best on that point but if you want to help I won't say no

[MaGiC_PiKaChU]

Will you have your team within the same school as 2626? Or do you plan on starting off in a new school?

[EDesbiens]

I'm planning of starting it either in Sherbrooke's CEGEP or just as a team without any link to a school

[theRealRobot]

-Try to stay consistent in which side you put English and which side you put French (it looks like English his more on the left, so make sure that it's always on the left.
-In Team, change Historic to History
-Add a section (probably under Team) about past robots- this is very helpful in getting scouted, and also just overall documentation
-Try to make a more interesting background, such as a video or photo slideshow- this will make your website look more complete and professional, both of which are important in getting scouted and making a good website

Overall, congrats on being brave enough to start your own team!!!

[EDesbiens]

Originally Posted by theRealRobot

-Try to stay consistent in which side you put English and which side you put French (it looks like English his more on the left, so make sure that it's always on the left.
-In Team, change Historic to History
-Add a section (probably under Team) about past robots- this is very helpful in getting scouted, and also just overall documentation
-Try to make a more interesting background, such as a video or photo slideshow- this will make your website look more complete and professional, both of which are important in getting scouted and making a good website

Overall, congrats on being brave enough to start your own team!!! :] :D :)

First of all, thank you for your feedback :)

I made the changes for history/historic...

I don't feel comfortable about adding a section about my past robots because I was with another team and I didn't do team alone at all :) I don't want to take the credit for that...

I'm currently gathering pictures and videos to add on the site :) It will soon be there!

Thank you again for you feedback!

[nickyflash]

Liked on Facebook. Best of luck!

[Dunngeon]

Can your area support another team? FRC teams are expensive, both in manpower and monetarily.

[EDesbiens]

Originally Posted by Dunngeon

Can your area support another team? FRC teams are expensive, both in manpower and monetarily.

Well, we don't have a lot of team in Québec... And I'm on good tracks for the monetary point... So I think it's ok

[Akash Rastogi]

If I'm understanding this correctly, you want to start a new team, as a student, even though you have access to a team already, because it would be "fun?" Can you please clarify why you want to start a team? What is the demand for a new team in your area?

People on here who tend to say "go for it!" and "wow great idea!" typically have not started their own teams before or have never ran one (successful one at least). That's a blanket statement I'm willing to make, sure.

Please know that starting and running a team is an extremely challenging thing to do as an adult, so I'm concerned you want to start a team for no real reason. Starting a mediocre or terrible team is easier, but ask yourself if that's really what you want. I only know of less than a handful of high school students who brought a new and successful FRC team to life on their own.

So, I have to ask; why?