Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Baker
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2. If you are against adult coaches, but agree with the mentoring mission of FIRST, then I feel that you don't understand what all Ken is saying above.
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Andy
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Andy,
There is a time and a place when a mentor needs to take the reigns and be the coach. That said, I also believe that there is a great learning experiance to be had by letting the students have full reign on the field.
Having a student as coach teaches that student about leadership and responsibility. It also teaches how to stand up to pressure (especially if a adult coach, from another team, is telling them to do something that they know their team cannot do well). Making a mistake, in this enviroment, is safe (but disheartening) ... making a mistake later on (as an engineer), because they haven't learned to make the big decision under pressure, could cost lives.
I push my students hard, but in the end they end up doing things that they never thought possible. Yes, there is a time and a place for the mentors to be on field coaches ... but I believe that there is more value in teaching a student to do that job.
JMHO