There is a large group of potential engineering mentors and coaches right on your doorstep. Norfolk/Portsmouth/Chesapeake is one of the epicenters for naval activity in the country, and has plenty of tech-related companies because of it.
Not only is their your current sponsor, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, but there are plenty of others. BAE, Metro Machine, Lyon Shipyard, W3 Marine, Little Creek, Old Dominion University, etc.
You’re sitting on a wealth of experienced engineering and technical knowledge, and it would be foolish to waste it.
You can start a Mostly Student run FRC team. It’s been done before with varying degrees of success.
Honestly, I wouldn’t do it. Student run teams seem awesome, until you realize that most students can’t even make a good decision on what to eat for breakfast. I come from a team that Has 3 primary mentors, two of which are semi-technical and the third is a Non-Technical Mentor who does 99% of the paperwork. Other than that our 50 Student team is primarily student run.
There’s some teams that do excellent Student run programs, but I’ve noticed that they’re very hot and cold. Yes, there have been student run teams that have done well a year hear and at an off-season there but very few of these teams have the consistency of a well-run adult team. Yeah, team XXXX might have had an awesome season in 200X but, what about 20XX, or 200X? Usually the answer ends up being “We had a great group of kids”. Out of all of the Student run Teams I have met, I’ve only met one that consistently excels year after year, and that’s team 11. It’s a hard thing to do.
For example I’ll use my own team. We, Team 816, were a complete unknown until 2008. Before then we were a Mid to Low range team who more often then not was packing their crate at Lunch time on Saturday. In the 2008 Season we had a number of people from the class of 2009 step up and make some changes. They re-did a lot of things, and took a completely new approach to the entire team. So in this Season and the Last we’ve become what some would consider a High Level Team but here’s the secret, 50% of our team is Graduating this year. Who knows what will become of 816 after they leave, it’s hard to run a team when you’re getting a new group of leaders every few years.
If you want to start a student run team then do it. But remember, there’s a team after you leave.
although having mentors is good…you dont HAVE to HAVE them…
It’s just easier to get everything done:D
as for graduating students…all but 2 of 1557’s students are underclassmen, and the two that graduated last year came back;)…we handle basically everything we can in running the team(meeting times,schedules…etc…) but our mentors some of the stuff too(community contacts, sposors,recruting new mentors…etc… )…pretty much…it’d be hard without them…
I cannot agree with this more. I know one of our primary struggles this year on 397 was not in getting the mentors to do a robot but to manage to hold everything else together, this is where you really need a great mentor.
Work WITH your school to continue an existing FRC team rather than up and starting a new one, the last thing FRC needs is teams failing. Too often they stress to start new teams, start new teams. Frankly I am sick of hearing it, the support structure does not exist to SUSTAIN teams.
As for student run teams, student run teams do not belong in FIRST. Im going to come out and finally say it, FIRST is not about students building the robots, it is about industry professionals showing kids what they do, about exposing them to new ideas. A bunch of kids building in a garage with hand tools doesnt inspire the same way as seeing a cnc mill take a part from the computer screen to the real world.
My advice to you, get some mentors, get some industry sponsors, instead of running from a problem solve it.
What exactly does a single mentor/adult/parent/teacher needs or should take care of for a team, and that being the basic reason why a mentor is needed?
After having read through the majority of the posts here, it’s safe to say that everyone here is giving good sound advice on how to proceed. It is possible to have a “student run” team, but you have too figure out what you mean by student run when it comes down to team and financial management and whether or not your student leadership has the means to handle payments, travel plans, and robot construction.
I really have to emphasize that along with your corporate/sponsor relations it is also extremely important to maintain a strong relationship with your school. Your school already has many resources that you can tap into that will allow your robotics team to continue well into the future when it comes to accounts, transportation, and insurance. If you feel as though your school doesn’t get it, schedule a meeting with your principal, contact your senior mentor or another team in the area to bring into the meeting, and sell it to them. Pull some video off the web, print up some “FIRST abouts”, and bring the teacher in with you. That teacher may not want to continue with your team, but they may be able to help you transition to another teacher or mentor for the future. I’ve experienced this in the past, it stinks to cut off or lose the majority of your experience almost instantaneously. Try to transition with what’s already in place and don’t start over. Greatness and experience is built upon.