Becoming Competitive

[GreyingJay]

One other thing I'll mention is that we allowed eighth-graders to join our team. It was an exception more than the rule when we allowed the first one, then his friend joined, then another three wanted to come. I was concerned that they might feel overshadowed by all the challenging work being done by older students, and/or be less consistent during build season, and/or be too immature.

I was wrong.

Most of our eighth-graders have been just as active, just as excited, and just as capable of taking on leadership roles in software, in fabrication (closely supervised for safety), and in outreach. We ran a Raspberry Pi programming workshop for the general public - largely put together by one of our 13-year-old students. And they're the ones that are more willing to let loose when you want them to - to cheer and shout at matches, to put on purple hats and purple face paint, to dance in the stands. They give our team a fun dose of energy and spirit.

So definitely recruit more students (of any age). New students see the FRC world with new, excited eyes.

[MikeBrock]

The best way to become better is to emulate engineering practices of the top teams. BUT, you also need to understand the how and why of what they do. Too many teams forget to explore the "why" and they end up with a sub-par machine.