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
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On 12/5/2011 3:27 PM, Paul K. VanDamme wrote:

[log in to unmask]" type="cite">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
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