How Do I get my child on to a team? and other FAQs

The single number 1 question that most people want to know: How do I get my child on to a team.

FIRST TeamUp is a community-driven system that allows parents, coaches, and mentors to connect with one another to form teams.

What else to try?

Typically, it is very rare for you to find a team for your child where there is not already a “relationship” between the adults and/or the kids. Another way to say it is that few teams are made up of “strangers”
The vast majority of teams form where there already is a sort of “relationship” among the young people or the adults involved – things like going to the same school, being neighbors or even going to the same church.
In general, most teams get formed by a parent or teacher and that person either becomes the coach and/or recruit others to co-coach
Playing At Learning is not in a position to coordinate team formation and/or find coaches or mentors for your team in your area
We do encourage posts to a specific group on the norcalfll social community site from those looking for a team and from those looking to add to their existing team
Coaching a FLL team is not difficult and does not require specialized knowledge, but it does take time and patience. We offer coaches training and can help provide a “bootcamp” start up type of training if there is a need

More information about starting a team

- We would recommend looking for FLL”alum” at your area high school to help with mentoring. Many FRC and/or FTC team members are willing to help FLL teams as well.
- We encourage you to think about starting a “club” in your area to get started to help provide a better experience for all and help with team formation and support. There are a few existing examples including school-based clubs in Fremont [Chadbourne and Hopkins] and a community-based club in Los Altos

How do I find a mentor?

Alot of teams do not have a mentor – it is not required.
It is the responsibility of the parents to “vet” and monitor all interactions between team members, coaches and mentors – if you are uncomfortable about where the team is meeting or the interactions, it is your responsibility to take action on behalf of your child. Neither FIRST nor Playing At Learning will get involved.
It is important the the coach / mentor understand that their role is not to direct the teams’ activities but instead their role is to help the kids achieve their own team goals through the kids’ own efforts
To find a mentor, we would recommend looking for FLL”alum” at your area high school to help with mentoring. Many FRC and/or FTC team members are willing to help FLL teams as well.
Most FRC teams have their own team website. The full list of all FRC teams is available online
A few of the FTC teams have their own team website (list) or can be reached by sending an email to the norcalftc yahoogroup
Playing At Learning is not in a position to coordinate team formation and/or find coaches or mentors for your team in your area

Help the entire community by forming a league (aka club) – maybe just for your local school or for your town/city. A few groups have been paving the way for up to 10 years now. Contact Mark / Jill if interested and we can help.

Other groups that we know that help team formation are Discovery Center of Sacramento, YMCA of East San Jose, several Boys&Girls Clubs, 4-H, scouts as well as several companies with paid robotics instructors will form teams.