I would tell her the above, that this is the FLL policy and that it is not fair to other teams, and that you have to uphold that.  I think that is Gracious Professionalism.  It is a disappointment, and I agree that I would hate to turn people away, but as the above states, it is not fair to other teams to have one team where more than ten children were contributing to the work, but then the team comes to the tournament saying they only had ten members.  You could maybe offer that if someone drops out, she could join.  Or maybe you can offer some support to help her start another team.  It is totally doable!

Also, I think that the kids don't have the same experience if there are more than ten kids on the team.  They don't all get to really experience everything that FLL is about and to really learn and have the best experience.  It is a tough place to be in though.  Would you consider doing two teams yourself?  If you had more parental support?  Maybe you could split the group in two?

Good luck,

Sonya

Coach of the Brick Dawgs