Why Most Community Teams Fail
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An honest breakdown of the most common failure modes for FTC community teams.

Leadership Turnover
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Teams that rely on a single charismatic leader without building institutional knowledge and succession pipelines often collapse when that person moves on.

Financial Instability
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Without diversified revenue streams and multi-year planning, teams are one sponsor withdrawal or grant denial away from crisis.

Burnout
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Running a community team is demanding. Without clear boundaries, delegation, and sustainable pace, key members burn out and the whole operation suffers.

Poor Documentation
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When knowledge lives only in people's heads, every departure is a potential catastrophe. Teams that fail to document processes, decisions, and technical knowledge cannot scale or survive turnover.

Overreliance on One Mentor
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A single technical mentor who does the heavy lifting creates dependency, stunts student growth, and leaves the team vulnerable when that mentor's availability changes.