Colleen,
  The one role I've never served in is as a coach.  But the tournament is
only 6-8 hours of the total FLL experience.  I'd let the boy participate
fully--your team will be stronger for it.  You'll probably be surprised how
well your team can adapt to filling in for a member who is available for
all/part of the tournament day.

  The judges don't count who isn't present--they only evaluate what the
team presents.  We're used to kids getting sick, having family emergencies,
sometimes even moving cross-country!

  Encourage your team to think creatively--"What if Johnny can't be there
for our project presentation?  How will you be able to still make it
work?"  See what they come up with.  Five of the 30 judging minutes are
scripted--the rest are generally free form Q&A.  Check out the Core Values
rubric (
http://www.firstlegoleague.org/sites/default/files/Official_Event_Info/CombinedRubrics.pdf)
and the element of Inclusion.  Better teams have members who can describe
how a missing member contributed to the team, so it's not a big deal.

If your team will rotate members in and out at the table, then it's
simple.  Someone else can substitute in.  Even if the substitute and the
original partner don't fully mesh, it's okay--only the best of 3 scores
counts anyway.

Finally, look at the FLL Core Values:  "What we discover is more important
than what we win."  I volunteer for FLL because I really value seeing what
the children can discover and how they can grow in their skills.
Recognizing achievement through awards is important, but the awards
ceremony is not where the learning, growing, and enthusiasm happen.  Those
happen during the season and in talking to the other teams at the
tournament.  The judged and scored events are a small piece of that.

Steve Scherr
VA/DC FLL  Referee Advisor


On Thu, Oct 17, 2013 at 9:33 PM, Colleen VanDyke
<[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Hi Everyone,
>
> Another Rookie Coach here...
>
> I just found out one of my team members has a conflict for a several hours
> on tournament day.  I would like him to participate while he is on-site.
> But since we don't know the schedule ahead of time, I am hesitant to give
> him an equal\critical role.  (He will do whatever is best of the team, so
> that is not a concern.)
>
> Am I better off deleting him from the team and having him as the team
> historian?  That way he could be with the team, but it wouldn't count
> against the team if he didn't have an equal role or wasn't present?
>
> I thought about planning for each activity with and without him, but I
> don't think my team can be that flexible on the fly.  (They are pretty
> nervous.)
>
> All suggestions welcome!
>
> --
> Thanks - Colleen
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