looking to start a new team

[Jacqui Sutton]

Is it just me, or are you also finding this to be a rather daunting task? I've never been one to give up on things that I have my mind set on - Will put everything i have into achieving a goal - but at the moment I'm so completely lost on where I should even start. I'm in Australia, and want to start a team here - but I dont know if i should first take it to a particular school and find out whether theyd be interested - i have a feeling they wouldnt want to hear about it unless I had some concrete sponshorship/budget/finance details, however if i take it to companies that I want to try and recieve sponshorship from first, wont they want to know what school would potentially be participating in the program, whether they're willing to work it into the curriculum, and also they're going to want some sort of budget and financing details - which i dont have! I know the cost of registration, well, in US dollars anyway, which fluctuates here daily so i could only give them an approximate on that, but the travel expenses for a team from australia just even to get to the closest regional (Los angeles i would presume) would be astronomical, and thats not even thinking about build costs, where id find mentors, or where we'd build the robot! I know the brits did it, and brazil too - just wish i knew how...

I wont give up on this, I just wish i knew where to start! You can mark my words though - The aussies will be a part of FIRST, and I look forward to seeing you all again very soon