Hi Taylor,
What you are doing is so awesome! And very creative and resourceful of you! You will have an awesome time coaching. It is a great experience. You could try posting on the VA/DC FLL Facebook page asking for donations of extra parts. You might also go around to some local engineering firms, or other businesses in your area that you think might support science and technology education, and ask if they would want to sponsor your team. Some teams have done that, and in exchange they wear t-shirts with the company logo on the back. If you do that, be sure to think ahead to what all of your costs will be (including what it will cost you to buy t-shirts and have them printed, if you are promising that to the sponsor), and then when you approach a company, give them the specific amount that you are asking for and what it would be spent on.
As far as coaching tips, I would really urge you to read the coaches' manual you will get soon from registering your team. It has a lot of really great information in it. You might call and ask them if they send that out early or if it comes in the fall with your kit. I don't remember. If it doesn't come until fall, you might ask if they could send you a copy from last year, just because there is a lot of information and helpful tips that are general and not specific to each year. Then you would have it over the summer to read and make plans.
As for general coaching tips, I would just encourage you to post here any time you have a question about anything at all, because there are lots of helpful people. Good luck to you!!!
Sonya in Harrisonburg
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.