People as Support Personnel in the Elims, How many is too many?

[EricLeifermann]

I don't think having alot of people on the floor is that big of a help when it comes to fixing the robot if it breaks. After all the robot is only so big and only so many hands can fit in it to fix the problem.

As for more people helping in on strategy I have no problem with it, who cares how many people are coming up with the strategy? It is up to the drive teams to execute said strategy during the match and that is the only place where anybody should really care how many people said team has on the floor.

[Jon Jack]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

I don't think having alot of people on the floor is that big of a help when it comes to fixing the robot if it breaks. After all the robot is only so big and only so many hands can fit in it to fix the problem.

As for more people helping in on strategy I have no problem with it, who cares how many people are coming up with the strategy? It is up to the drive teams to execute said strategy during the match and that is the only place where anybody should really care how many people said team has on the floor.

My thoughts exactly. You can have all the strategy help in the world, but that doesn't guarantee a win unless your drivers and alliance partners can execute it.

[XaulZan11]

Well, if extra people cannot help the team out by fixing the robot or in strategy, then why are they down there? Either they are giving their team a competitive advantage or just breaking the rules for front row seats of the finals, correct?

[Bharat Nain]

One of the problems with our hawaiian shirts is that everybody wants them. During eliminations, a lot of people wear our shirts and hang around our robot (including volunteers) and are mistaken to be on our team. We have a strict policy on our team where team members with media pass do not touch the robot or tools. Occasionally, if there is an emergency, they may help. An emergency may be something like the toolbox fell over and tools are all over the place. At that point, I think anyone around would help put the tools back in the toolbox regardless of who they are over there. If teams use the media pass/other teams driver badges/volunteer badges to try to be a part of a teams pit crew, then that is not right. I don't care if they want to hang around or be a part of the strategy meetings. That is perfectly fine. I also don't like the idea of having "rules" for everything. When something becomes an issue, it should be handled appropriately. We have enough rules for everything in FIRST.

[Daniel_LaFleur]

Originally Posted by EricLeifermann

I don't think having alot of people on the floor is that big of a help when it comes to fixing the robot if it breaks. After all the robot is only so big and only so many hands can fit in it to fix the problem.

As for more people helping in on strategy I have no problem with it, who cares how many people are coming up with the strategy? It is up to the drive teams to execute said strategy during the match and that is the only place where anybody should really care how many people said team has on the floor.

The issue is not whether or not we think it's a big help. The issue is that this is breaking the rules. If teams are breaking the rules then the head ref should be notified and he should require the team to comply with the rules ... 'nuff said.

I'd also like to remind people that all is not always what it seems. Not everyone in a team shirt is on that team, etc. This is why I suggest informing the head ref and letting him take care of it.

Rules are there for a reason, and sometimes the reasons are not always apparent.

[nahstobor]

First off I can't really complain because I used my teams Media Pass to help out with strategy for 816 in Atlanta during the eliminations. But after hearing about teams having strategy sessions at regional tournaments with coaches of numerous different teams I saw nothing wrong with helping 816 because other model teams in FIRST were doing this.

But being behind the curtain in the playoffs it is very obvious that some teams have more than 8 members on the floor (More than the, 4 Drive team + 3 Pit + 1 media pass). If FIRST believes that this is a problem one easy fix is simply having teams work on their robots on the side of the fields in Atlanta (There is certainly enough space to do this).