Scott,

I am assuming that you had 11 kids apply to the team and all are good candidates so you do not want to tell one kid that they were not selected for the team. The ideal thing would be to have two teams because as everyone has stated 10 kids are already a bit much for a FLL team. It is difficult to keep them all engaged with different things to work on. That said, I have been there before and find myself there again this year. My experience is that one or two kids find out in the 2nd or 3rd week that this is something that they don’t want to do and drop out. I have wanted to reach out to them and try to talk them into staying on the team but this takes care of the number of students on the team so they have self-selected. This leaves me with 10 or fewer kids on a team by the time registration is closed so we are at the right number before the tournament and it is not a problem.

It is possible though that no one drops out in which case the backup plan is to take attendance at each meeting and observe who is participating. If I need to make a decision about who to register, I will take these factors into account. Of course, if this happens keep the kids and parents in the loop so they are not caught by surprise on the day of the tournament.

I hope this helps.
Richard Teel
Coach/Mentor for Robotic Roadrunners (7203) & Robotic Roadrunners 2.0 (12938)


From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Donna Cornwell
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 12:07 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [External] Re: [VADCFLL-L] alternates

 Scott,

I have coached or helped with 7 teams over the years, and it was the usual situation that someone missed the tournament -- someone was sick, had a family vacation, made the soccer all-stars team, etc.

I planned my season expecting to be missing a team member of two.  I feel like the ideal team size for me is 5 kids: everyone gets to do alot of hands on and make decisions and I don't have to do too much crowd control.  However, I would worry about having someone miss the tournament, so I tried to get 7 kids for the team and double up on the major roles -- more than one kid should be know how  to do each mission run, be able to step in to a major role in the skit, etc.  It helps to have the kids think these things through in advance.  The kids were really good about teaching each other what to do so that everyone was covered.

If your team has 10 kids, then that provides alot of depth, they should be able to double up roles and cover if two or even three kids are unable to make the tournament.  If your team is small, how about recruiting your potential alternate as a team member?  I think that this would go more smoothly for the team than to have an alternate to step in at the last minute without having worked through the season as a team member.

Donna
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>

From: <Greiling>, Scott <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Reply-To: "Greiling, Scott" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Date: Monday, September 17, 2012 9:46 AM
To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: [VADCFLL-L] alternates

Still waiting on an answer from FLL.  Has anyone been able to place an alternate on the team for tournament day if a team member is sick?

Thanks.
******** Confidentiality Statement: This electronic message and attachments are intended only for the use of the addressee and may contain confidential or privileged information. Receipt of this transmission by any person other than the intended recipient does not constitute permission to examine, copy, or distribute the accompanying material. If you received this electronic message in error, please notify the sender of the message. ********
________________________________
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.
________________________________
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.
________________________________
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.