FIRST FRC
FIRST FRC is a competitive high school robotics program designed for students between the ages of 14-18. It stands for: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, FIRST Robotics Competition.
Thank you if you are considering starting a FIRST FRC team. It is time worthwhile. Mentoring a team is one of the most rewarding undertakings. It can be such an amazing experience.
If you are thinking about getting involved please consider some of the following:
DO YOUR RESEARCH.
Research for a year. No kidding. This is something that will take time. Don’t jump into it. Go to competitions, walk around and talk to other teams. Take lots of notes. Go to the FIRST website and READ, READ, READ.
FIRST has resources that are invaluable. NEMO (Non-Engineering Mentor Organization) is also a good place to get information. Contact other teams and ask questions. Spend some time with teams during their meetings. If you have a team close to you consider working with them for a year. One of the things I love about FIRST is they are so welcoming and helpful. FIRST teams go out of their way to help you get started. They do everything they can to help you succeed.
IT IS A HUGE COMMITMENT.
Don’t take it lightly. This will suck up a good part of your free time. Encourage your family to get involved with you since you will be spending so much time with the team. And once it is started, you have students that will rely on you to keep it going. This is a long-term commitment.
The build season may be only 6 weeks but FRC is all year long. It is necessary to have mentors that are willing to commit. There is a lot of background work that has to be done for the team to succeed. Have a handful of mentors to help out. A lot of the year-round work is great for the non-technical mentors to help with.
FIND MENTORS THAT DON’T HAVE STUDENTS ON THE TEAM.
This is important. If all your mentors have students on the team chances are they will leave once their student graduates. This can be devastating to a team. You will be a rookie team all over again, year after year. In all honesty, it takes about 2 years for a mentor to figure out how the team works. By then, their student is already halfway done with high school. So, you only get 2 good years out of that mentor before they move on. Most of that information does not get handed down to new mentors. I’m not saying to turn away parents that want to mentor, you will need them. But, think about the team in the long term; come up with a strategy that will keep the team strong year after year.
My experience, most parents leave after 4 years. Although, there are a few exceptions. I have known mentors that stay active on teams long after their students have graduated. This is not the norm.
WHAT SKILLS ARE NEEDED?
It’s more than robots. Think of an FRC team as a business. Yes, you need technical mentors with mechanical, electrical and programming skills. But, you also need non-technical mentors that can help guide students with marketing, public relations, office managing, accounting, travel planning, someone in charge of a safety program! This can be done by one person or several … but, these areas need to be covered.
WHERE WILL YOU MEET?
Ideally, you need to have a place to meet on a regular basis, preferably a dedicated workspace. You will need access to a workshop and be able to meet as often as possible during (every day?) build season (January – April) and weekly from April – December. You may choose not to meet every day BUT, believe me, when build season happens you will want that option.
The team I worked with had worked out of a mentor’s garage for the better part of its existence. The school the team was associated with didn’t understand how to work with the team so we had always been at someone’s home. This can get complicated. If you have the option to work in a dedicated workspace PLEASE DO! It will be better in the long run.
There is so much to consider … but, this is a good start. Please don’t let this discourage you. This should assist you to have a strong inception; to help sustain your new team for years to come.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE OR YOU ARE READY TO START A FIRST FRC TEAM