A coach is one of the most important hires a district can make !!

[Chief Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by ebarker

Interesting comments.

I don't have anything against the super or the sport.

The bigger point is "we get what we celebrate"..... We could double our outcomes if we chose to celebrate and elevate other things in parallel with sport. Yes indeed.

still have a lot of cultural change work to do here in Georgia.

I love the insight... and I think this is everywhere. Minnesota is not immune to High Schools hiring 'Super Coaches' for their pet sport.

However, over the last three season in FIRST - I have seen a huge swing for teams/schools adopting FIRST in Minnesota. Most rookie teams that I have talked with in the last two seasons have coaches that are hired by the school district.

This is a HUGE development from our first season in 2013. When we proposed the idea of a FRC team to our school, the administration allowed it - but would not be providing ANY money for it. Up until this time (and sometimes even now), schools refused to acknowledge a FRC team. I know it seems a short amount of time - but in Minny there now seems to be a mini-arms race when it comes to FIRST (especially FRC), STEM related curriculum, and Tech Ed Teachers. Schools that looked the other way in previous years are now clambering to hire a STEM/Robotics coach.

A culture can change:
This is a great nod to the ground plan of MN FIRST and the Minnesota State High School League adopting FRC as an official sport. From the little work that I have done thus far, I can appreciate the work of those that have paved the FRC road in Minnesota.

I believe that we are now at 208 teams in Minnesota - up from 0 in 2005. Hats off to FRC 1816 and all the work that their team has done and what they continue to do.