Minnesota High School Teams

[Bryan Herbst]

MSHSL sanctions the state tournament, but only the state tournament. The rest of the season and program is governed by FIRST, and the MSHSL doesn't interfere with that at all. The last I heard, robotics doesn't fall under either the "sport" or "fine arts" umbrellas with MSHSL, so I wouldn't say it is sanctioned "as a sport."

If you are looking for the eligibility guidelines MSHSL uses for robotics students, you can find the robotics-specific eligibility brochure on this page.

With respect to our school, 2052 is recognized as an activity by Irondale High School. The district has a grant application for any district program that makes it past the state level, and we received it for the first time last year for the FRC championship event. They cover 35% of the student expenses for the trip (we did not include food, we did include lodging and transportation). They don't cover anything for state, but that's largely because there really is no expense to the team for state due to our proximity to the event.

[Jon Stratis]

2177 falls under the umbrella of the "Activities Director" (formerly known as the Athletics Director, they changed the title to be more encompassing a couple of years ago).

I think the big question for you is... which designation works better for your team? One of the hardest part some teams have is working with their school to the best advantage of their program, and it sounds like this is a possible turning point for your program!

[caljames]

Thank you for all of your input! It has been very helpful!!

[The Ginger]

In Cambridge, 5464 is listed as a activity, however this is simply to lower the price to join the team (In our district all activity's/sports have entrance fees), the school provides us with; 3 paid coaches, full access to their machine, welding, woods, automotive, and newly established robotics shops, along with space in a school storage facility. my point is, it does not matter so much what your team is designated as, its how well you make your needs, wants, and ambitions known to your school board. (P.S. make friends with activities director, principal, and school board reps, and go strait to the board because they have the power to make changes to the system if they fell its necessary)

I hope I was of any help and good luck!

[caljames]

Yes, you all were very insightful and helpful. Very much appreciated.