Are there any rules about having multiple schools on a team?

[Richard McClellan]

Thanks for all of the replies. I have contacted FIRST directly with my question, so I'll post the reply when I get it.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by richardmcc2

Thanks for all of the replies. I have contacted FIRST directly with my question, so I'll post the reply when I get it.

It's not illegal. The rules say a student can only be a member of one team. So, regardless of any other variables, if the students from this other school are exclusively on your team, not theirs, it is legal.

[synth3tk]

As stated directly above, it is very legal. Now the question that should be is, Will the new team have rookie status?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

Also, 294, 330, 207? and several other (now nonexistent) teams were once team before growing too large.

294, 330, 207 are correct. I've heard that one of the three schools that make up 1197 (not the original) was also on that team--now 12 seasons ago. (For reference: by my reckoning, Beach 'Bot 10 was built last season; Beach 'Bot 1 was built right after the schools all got their own teams.)

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by richardmcc2

Last year was our teams rookie year, our team was based out of one high school, but we had one or two students from a neighboring high school. This neighboring high school, has started their own team this year. Is there any rule against having students from this other school on our team?

I know this is against the rules for the BEST Robotics Competition, but I wasn't sure about FIRST.

I think some of the responses in this thread have drifted from answering the question in the body of the message (which is bit different than the thread title). The issue isn't about having students from more than one school on a FIRST team. There are many, very good (and successful) examples of multi-school teams in FIRST. Team 980 is built this way: we're an alliance of small academies and home-schooled students plus students from high schools without FIRST teams. We actively engage in collaborative efforts (Team 4 in 2006 and just starting with Team 2404), just as other successful FIRST teams have done (Niagara Triplets or RAWC+CheesyPoofs, anyone?).

I believe we now have a situation on our team similar to what richardmcc2 is trying to resolve:
A third-year student member of Team 980 attends a local high school that forms a rookie team this year. Is this student morally or "legally" obligated to leave Team 980 to join his high school's rookie team? Should this be or is this a choice to be made by the student? Team 980 does not "recruit" students from schools with existing teams, but this is a new situation for us. BTW, the student's HS rookie team indicates that they are not looking to be mentored ("SoCal Triplets" are not in the cards here...).

What about the rookie status of the new team if the experienced Team 980 student joins that team?
According to the published FIRST criteria, a single student with FIRST experience particitation on that team won't affect the rookie status for the team. However, if there were five or more experienced students on the new team, then rookie status would be affected.

I'm starting to think like a lawyer here - time to stop...

[Richard McClellan]

Originally Posted by David Brinza

I think some of the responses in this thread have drifted from answering the question in the body of the message (which is bit different than the thread title). The issue isn't about having students from more than one school on a FIRST team. There are many, very good (and successful) examples of multi-school teams in FIRST. Team 980 is built this way: we're an alliance of small academies and home-schooled students plus students from high schools without FIRST teams. We actively engage in collaborative efforts (Team 4 in 2006 and just starting with Team 2404), just as other successful FIRST teams have done (Niagara Triplets or RAWC+CheesyPoofs, anyone?).

I believe we now have a situation on our team similar to what richardmcc2 is trying to resolve:
A third-year student member of Team 980 attends a local high school that forms a rookie team this year. Is this student morally or "legally" obligated to leave Team 980 to join his high school's rookie team? Should this be or is this a choice to be made by the student? Team 980 does not "recruit" students from schools with existing teams, but this is a new situation for us. BTW, the student's HS rookie team indicates that they are not looking to be mentored ("SoCal Triplets" are not in the cards here...).

What about the rookie status of the new team if the experienced Team 980 student joins that team?
According to the published FIRST criteria, a single student with FIRST experience particitation on that team won't affect the rookie status for the team. However, if there were five or more experienced students on the new team, then rookie status would be affected.

I'm starting to think like a lawyer here - time to stop...

Thanks for that clarification David, that's exactly what I meant.

[Richard McClellan]

Ok, FIRST replied back this morning and said it would not affect this new team's rookie status either way. This seems true based on Rule #5 from the Rookie Team Criteria:

5. If individual students who have been involved in a team leave that school and start a team in their new school that team also is generally considered a Rookie, providing it meets condition 1, and does not involve sufficient students to be considered a version of condition 3. As a maximum, the number of students in the new team that have competed in prior teams must not exceed 5.