Looking for a team

[eyu100]

In another thread, someone said this subforum is only good for recruiting "displaced" veterans. Well, that's me . I'm wondering if there's a team near me that will accept me. (Don't suggest that I rejoin my team. If you want to know more about what happened, PM me.)

Some information about me:

• I'm a senior
• I've been doing FRC since 10th grade
• I can't drive
• I live east of Bellevue
• I was my team's programming lead last year
  

...yeah... I didn't explain myself very well, and I'm expecting a puzzled reaction. Hopefully after people chime in I will be able to explain my situation better.

[EricH]

Some initial advice: From the sound of it, you've burned a bridge (or someone burned it behind you). Before you join a different team, it might be a good idea to talk to someone outside the situation that you can trust about the situation and figure out what the initial cause was. It might follow you over to another team. It might not.

Now, on to the team portion. I'd start here. Set the area to your favorite state and make sure that you're looking only for FRC teams (those boxes checked; all others unchecked). Find a team that looks to be within reasonable range; it sorts by location by default. Contact information should be listed on the team website, which is typically linked from the team's info page (click on the team number). I count 5 teams in the Bellevue area. Offhand, though, I don't think any of them has anybody active on CD; CD's members area can be advanced-searched by team to verify that.

[eyu100]

Thanks! Your post was extremely helpful. Based on what you said (the "have you thought this through" part), here are some clarifications:

• I've been thinking about this since the summer
• I've talked about this with my team's main mentor
• My teammates like me, but I don't feel the same way, and I don't enjoy working with them
• At this point, I am still part of the team, but I am planning to quit soon regardless of whether I can find a new team.

[EricH]

OK, not as bad as I thought it might be. More the "mutual agreement to go separate ways" instead of the "one storms off in a tantrum and the other locks the door behind them" separation. The former tends to be much easier to deal with in most situations for some reason.

The other thing in finding a team is that the Regional Director could probably help point you to a team if you can't contact them another way. Good luck!

[eyu100]

Are teams generally willing to accept students like me? Would I have to give a good reason, or would "I fell out with my team, please please please take me" be enough?

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by eyu100

Are teams generally willing to accept students like me? Would I have to give a good reason, or would "I fell out with my team, please please please take me" be enough?

It's really hard to give an answer to this over the net since there are a lot of factors that would play into a decision that aren't really apparent in text.

Your best bet may to find a local team that is compromised of home schoolers or through a local group like 4H or something like that since they may be more willing to accept someone than another school based team.

I know for my team and ex-high school it's extremely difficult for us to have someone from out of the district on the team, mainly for insurance reasons etc, etc. I'd imagine that other teams based in High Schools may run into the same problem.

I'd suggest going to usfirst.org and using the team locator and contacting some of the teams in your area and just waiting to see how it all plays out.

[eyu100]

Originally Posted by thefro526

I know for my team and ex-high school it's extremely difficult for us to have someone from out of the district on the team, mainly for insurance reasons etc, etc. I'd imagine that other teams based in High Schools may run into the same problem.

There's another team at a different high school in my school district. Would the same problems apply there?

[Bethie42]

Originally Posted by eyu100

Are teams generally willing to accept students like me? Would I have to give a good reason, or would "I fell out with my team, please please please take me" be enough?

As someone who is crazy about FIRST and most FIRST people, who's been on a team for four years and is team leader this year: I'd let you join our team in an instant. [IF I met you in person, maybe talked to your old team's coach, etc, heh.]

I think though it would depend a lot on the team. Our team has always been small, and we're usually glad for whoever we can get. I think this would not be the case though, for larger teams.

I recommend talking to your Reg. Director. Deb Mumm-Hill used to be the RD for WA [she's awesome], but she's just doing Oregon now and you'll need to find the new RD's contact info.

I looked at the Bellevue teams listed on the team locator and they are all teams that have been established for awhile [ie lower registration numbers]....hence, I think these teams may be larger/better established. Now they could be fine [and by all means approach them...after all our team has been around for 10 years and we're still tiny], but I would lean towards a newer team.

I bet there is some rookie team out there right now that is panicking because they don't have a programming lead [that happens to veteran teams too...just ask me, who is now lead programmer and has NO idea what she's doing...]. If you can find that team, I think things could go very well.

Can you get some other sort of transportation [bus, etc] to a further-away team? Although that would have the same problem of insurance, for the school.


Sorry you're having to go through this, I know several people who have quit FIRST because of problems with their team and they just couldn't find another team to join. Hopefully you can find a way to work around it.

Oh one more thought, do you know anyone who's on a team close-ish to where you live? It could be a huge help if you already had at least one friend on the team.
Good luck! Let me know if there's any other way I can help.

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by eyu100

There's another team at a different high school in my school district. Would the same problems apply there?

To be honest, I don't know - I'd guess that'd you'd be okay since you were in the same district, but that's just a guess.

Best way to find out is to ask the right people.

[eyu100]

So I talked about this to my parents, and they said that joining another team would be betrayal and that people in my school (not just robotics students) would hate me. To what extent is this true? (Nobody here has mentioned it yet.) Posts from people who have gone through this situation before would be especially helpful.

[Chris is me]

Why hinder what you can do with your life because of what people who will know you for a very short time might think?

[dag0620]

I find that hard to belive. I'm not sure how much your parents know about FIRST, but if there like my parents, they act as if its like another sports team.

I know that around hear, if you go to another school within our sports league (espically our rivals) and play a sport there, you will be hated.

However this is FIRST, were not like that. Your team-mates, in the proper spirit of FIRST, will probably understand and not bother you with it.


Hopes this helps!

[eyu100]

I completely agree with both of you, but my parents don't. =\ I just want to get the most out of my senior year, but they think that joining another team would damage my relations with other people at my high school enough to hurt me years down the road. Another issue is that I am currently active on my team, and leaving now and joining another team will attract more attention than joining a while after leaving.

[dag0620]

Well like said before, it really comes down to it being a descison you have to make. I understand that there are a lot of factors that come into play here, and it may not seem easy, but you need to do something.

No matter what you do, your probably going to run into some trouble, but when you make your descison you need to make it based off of which path will give you what you truly want, and the most happiness out of all the options. There may not be a clear-cut option, but thats what you need to do.


Give it a few days thoughts before Kick-Off before things get involved....

[Mark McLeod]

Perhaps you could remain a member of your team, but volunteer to work closely on their behalf as a student mentor with a nearby rookie team?

Or introduce a student liason program with the other team in your school district. To cross-share ideas, skills, and mentor knowledge and assistance through regular weekly visits.

That's in the spirit of GP and would give you another FIRST outlet.