College Team Help!

[Matt Leese]

Originally posted by Ken Leung
Can anyone give some advice about starting a college team?

I am sure a lot of people have a lot to say about this, so...

How about, what's the few best advice you can give to people who are aiming to start a college team?

What are the most important things people should look for?

Best advice for starting a college team? Wish I knew. That would've been helpful this year.

Seriously though, there are a number of things that are needed to start a college team. The number one thing needed is a team leader. Now that may seem like it's obvious but it's very important. The team leader has to be someone that's not going to give up on the project and will get it done by sheer force of will if need be (sheer force of will generally becomes necessary at some point). The team leader also has to be willing to do the jobs that no one else has any interest in doing (contacting sponsors, contacting high schools, contacting faculty, writing a budget, getting people involved, running meetings, setting of travel arrangements, or whatever someone else can't be found to do). I guess that in my opinion the most important part of a college team are the people involved. They're the ones that are going to make the project fly or not.

Other important things to consider: Be persistent. If you bother someone enough they'll finally give in and actually listen to you. Find a faculty member who's willing to put in the time to help you out. They're going to be infinitely more connected at the campus than you are and will be able to help you talk to the right people. Contact the admissions department. FIRST is a great place to recruit students because FIRSTers tend to be the type of people colleges want to recruit.

That's about all I can think of. I'm sure others can add more to that advice.

Matt who's glad he's not starting a team this year.....only running one....