Community sponsorship of teams through ARBC

ARBC uses community donations and volunteer labor to sponsor teams that are operated either by groups of parents, by private/public schools, or by home-school groups.  ARBC does not directly operate any teams, supply coaches for teams, nor place students on teams.  Community sponsorship for FLL Challenge teams through ARBC includes:

• Facilitating team formation by:
  • collecting information from interested parents/students (pre-registration), and
  • encouraging parents to step forward as volunteer coaches, mentors, and support staff for the students
• Administrative services to let coaches focus on students:
  • collecting per-student contributions to team seasonal startup costs
  • using collected funds to defray the cost of seasonal registrations and simple uniforms (t-shirts)
  • registering teams (national program registration and state-wide tournament registration)
  • coordinating team t-shirt purchases
  • applying for grants (when applicable)
• Loaning LEGO robot kits (one kit for every three team members) to teams each season, and maintaining the kits between seasons
• Advising/consulting with team parents and coaches
• Organizing team participation in community events and fundraising activities 
• Encouraging senior teams to mentor/support junior teams
• Running local scrimmages to help teams prepare for competition

ARBC’s sponsorship of teams covers basic costs of team operation.  The economics of team funding/operation are an important part of the team experience, so coaches should keep student team members aware of their team’s income and expenses and allow them to make economic choices for which they are held responsible.  Depending on team goals, teams may need to acquire additional funding beyond the startup contributions/ARBC sponsorship over the course of a season (additional parental support, team-based fund-raising, other solicitations).