Minimum age for FRC?

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by SenorZ

http://www.firstinspires.org/

Grades 9-12, ages 14-18

Simple.

FIRST doesnt limit students being in the program starting at grade 9.
STIMS allows students to officially register from age 13 on their site.

[dirtbikerxz]

Originally Posted by waialua359

FIRST doesnt limit students being in the program starting at grade 9.
STIMS allows students to officially register from age 13 on their site.

I've never tried, but can a parent register a student under the age of 13?

[Munchskull]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

I've never tried, but can a parent register a student under the age of 13?

How would they? The only way to register is STIMS.

[Mike Marandola]

This is the reply to an email I sent a while ago

[dirtbikerxz]

Originally Posted by Munchskull

How would they? The only way to register is STIMS.

I just tested it by making a fake account. You first make a parents account in stims, (you just have to put the parents information in the registration section, I guess stims automatically checks the age to determine if your account is a student account or a parent account). After I made the parent account, I was succesfull able to create an account for a 11 year old- 6th grader, and have the 6th grader account apply to my team.

[EmileH]

3467 let me on as a 7th grader in the 2013 offseason, and I went on to operate for the team my 8th grade year in 2015.

The decision to let on younger members is completely up to the team.

[Tungrus]

I have not seen any rule about minimum age. However there is one rule, anyone under 12 years must be with an adult, which technically means student cannot freely walk to field or pit without an adult. I will try to find that rule and post details later in the day.

FYI: our team works in one of our sponsor's plant, they have a specific rule, no one 12 or under allowed in our shop. This something you have to keep in mind.

[SenorZ]

The more people keep asking for clarification on this ambiguous recommendation, the more likely there is to be a hard limit established.

As with the game manual, if you can't find a rule against something, proceed with your plans, but have a Plan B ready to go in case the rules change.

[TINCAN foodgas]

Lady Cans FRC #2881 was founded in 2009. At that time there were many middle school FRC teams. As a girl scout team, we've always had middle school girls on our team. STEM research shows that if girls are not involved in STEM activities between the 4th - 8th grade, then they won't be interested later in life. We have over 40 girls on our team. We have sustainability, depth of knowledge and continuous mentor-ship. Our alumni are also role models and mentors. Navigating STIMS is sometimes a challenge but paper always works and is legal.

[Koko Ed]

The youngest member we had on the team was 3. She is still currently a member at 15.

[Foster]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

The youngest member we had on the team was 3. She is still currently a member at 15.

That is amazingly cute and cool at the same time. I took my grandmunchkin to Duel. I outfitted her with the small size safery glasses. We got stopped at the entrance and I got asked "How old is she?" "Three, and she has her own safety glasses." She gave them a big smile, they waved her through and she loved the robots.

Back on topic, do a quick check on your insurance. Sometimes there are issues around roboteers under a certain age using power tools. It won't preclude then from being part, just means you need to wait some before they learn to run your Bridgeport.

[xjschwen]

For the use of power tools we require the student to be in 9th grade.

For coding, and other team functions we invite 8th grades that have been on the FTC team(s) to attend a couple of build sessions per week.

[FrankJ]

Originally Posted by dirtbikerxz

I've never tried, but can a parent register a student under the age of 13?

For all youth (under 18) the parent (guardian) is the only person that can register a youth. The youth doesn't even need to create an account. Even is an youth creates and account, the information will not show up on the team registration until the parents registers them and completes the permission forms. I am not sure if the registration filters for age, but all the programs registers from STIMs.

[Mr. Ackroyd]

We have FLL from grades 4-7

We then have FTC for grades 8-9

I invite the 9th graders onto FRC when the FTC season ends. This worked out really well last year. The 8th-9th graders are just not ready for FRC and tend to hide along the walls and blend in with the crowd. Last year the 9th graders coming onto the team hit the ground running and really contributed to the team. Just giving them those years at FTC helps in so many ways.

[GreyingJay]

We have students on 2706 who started when they were as young as 12.

To be honest when I first found out about grade 8 students wanting to join, I was skeptical. My opinion was something like "OK, they can tag along." I was proven wrong. Yes, there was one student who wasn't able to contribute much (I think he was just too busy with other commitments) but the majority of our young students are eager, enthusiastic, ready to learn, and always ready to volunteer.

It does take a certain, shall we say, "sense of humour" to work with junior high students, but the rewards for giving them the chance are worth it.