Gonna add my 2 cents. Actually, I would copy and paste what Eric said below.
7 years of FLL coaching, 6 years of FRC VCU volunteer, 4th year as an FRC parent/mentor, 3-4 years as an FLL volunteer.
I do it for the kids. It's hard work, but worth all the pain.
I sat in the stands at VCU a couple of years ago watching a regional final and realized that I had coached kids on 4 of the 6 teams in the finals. I've got two kids of my own with 7 and 9 years in FIRST, but I really have 30 FLL "kids" and another 50-60 FRC "kids"
It's all about the kids. They get it,even if the parents don't.
Steve Ruwe
From: "Ally Coyle" <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2012 5:57:55 PM
Subject: Re: [VADCFLL-L] Parent Involvement/Expectations Contract Sample?
That is a really good question. I was lucky to have 2 assistant coaches who
helped a lot. Yet still there is so much planning,coordinating to be done. I
am completely DONE for a while. Half the parents did not help at all. I am
not sure they said thank you.
In my sheet, I requested the parents to volunteer for 1week of meetings. 8
weeks, 8 meetings I was thinking. Yet half the team's parents did not, even
with repeated emails , volunteer for anything. I can not lie, the next time
I pick a team, the amount of help a parent gives will matter, if we I do it
again.
One way to know, is to organize a club / or other meetings to get a feel of
which kids /parents work out the best. FLL is an all volunteer effort and I
feel that many parents do not help out at all. Oddly enough, these parents
are also the ones who complain the most. So my thought is this -
make your time a complete "Gift" of time and since your child is in it,
count it as your time to help your child and live with whatever the parents
have to offer.
Or select a team that includes consideration of how much others can
contribute and make it a prerequisite with a failure to do clause.
At our coop preschool, if you do not coop, its $30 per class. A fee gets
involvement fast ,generally speaking. I KNOW its not about the $, but for
many that will give you the kids /parents that are serious. A parent won't
sign up if they can't help.
The down side is that a great kid might get left out.
Coach Robotic Ninjas
Glen Allen VA
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