I think I have coached my last FLL season as my daughter is an 8th 
grader and has her eyes on FTC.( anyone know of a neighborhood FTC team 
in the Herndon/Reston/Chantilly area?)

Over my 7 years as a coach and/or mentor, I have found the season to be 
too short.  The differences between being a rookie team and a returning 
team are huge.  This is hard on school based teams that form in 
September and have to compete in November.  Below is a link to 
Maryland's schedule where they have regionals in Dec/Jan and the state 
tournament at the end of January.  (The events that don't say "FLL" are 
FRC, the high school competition.)

http://www.mdfirst.org/calendar-of-events.html

This schedule would allow kids to do a lot more in a season.   There 
would still be schedule conflicts in January,  but it would be easier 
for the kids to juggle their activities with a longer prep season.

Donna Cornwell
[log in to unmask]



On 12/5/2011 3:27 PM, Paul K. VanDamme wrote:
> So I never comment on these boards...but I can't resist this 
> topic....this is a horrible weekend because of all the countless 
> conflicts that exist with folks trying to squeeze in final 
> performances, tournaments, etc between the holidays.
>
> This year half our team was missing because they were performing in 
> the nutcracker, something they rehearse for all summer and fall. It 
> showed that we only had three girls, but what are you going to do -- 
> for active kids that do more than just lego robotics....there are 
> always choices.
>
> I for one would be in favor of moving it out of December (which is 
> just ridiculously busy), but I suspect other months will have similar 
> conflicts for people.
>
> Carolyn
> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>


-- To UNSUBSCRIBE or CHANGE your settings, please visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-l.html and select "Join or leave the list".

-- VADCFLL administrative announcements are sent via VADCFLL-ANNOUNCEMENTS-L. Visit https://listserv.jmu.edu/archives/vadcfll-ANNOUNCEMENTS-l.html to subscribe.