Adult vs. Student coaches

[abeD]

This year my team 710 decided on the coaching role at the last minute. I ended up being the coach for serveral reasons.

1. This is my 6th year doing first as well as driving the robot in 2 of them.
2. My brother was the base driver for the bot and we communicate well, we also had another student driving as well and we had the same results.
3. We tried it in practice matches and we worked well together, the students responded well to my instructions and strategy decisions.

I think the number one most important thing for a coach is experience. Sometimes reactions on the field have to be instinctive and these instincts are developed over time. This is a large reason why mentors are usually adults who have been doing FIRST for a while.