Development of mentor program?

[gran racing]

(Cross posted from roadraceautox, but know some don’t post over there.)

For a few years now I’ve pitched the idea to SCCA of developing a mentor program. They liked the idea, but for whatever reason it’s just never happened at least on a larger scale. From what I understand there are a couple of regions out there that have some form of a mentor program, but I’m not aware of them. If NASA has a mentor program, it’s certainly not easy to recognize at least from their national website.

As you might guess, I have quite a bit of contact with people new to motorsports. I’m in the process of creating a new website where the contents will be available to people for free, and Ryan Davies volunteered to create a chat form (thank you!) where people can ask various questions. Even with all of this, I know there would be quite a bit of value in establishing a mentor program. So why not?

Might any of you be interested in helping with something like this? It could be anything from making yourself available as a mentor, assisting with the creation and implimention of this program, contacting regions and/or other clubs to make them aware it exists, to other tasks. You choose how much you’d be willing to put into this.

Prospective Mentors: you don’t need to have a considerable level of experience in which ever type(s) of motorsports. The goal is really to make someone new to the sport more comfortable. You also don’t need to commit to a significant amount of time. Could be as simple as introducing yourself, answering a few e-mails, possibly being okay with some phone calls, to whatever you decide. I (hopefully we) will develop a questionnaire for mentors and students to appropriately find suitable matches.

At least in the beginning, I want to keep this fairly basic otherwise it’ll become too overwhelming and probably stop with this thread. What suggestions do you have to develop a mentor program? Anyone interested in helping with this? Think there are too many obstacles and efforts should be spent differently? Nice idea, but too much work?

- Added onto this, wondering if a similar volunteer mentoring program would be worthwhile.

[joeg]

Dave--A fine idea.

What I see sometimes at the track is maybe a reluctance of new drivers to approach any one for help, advice or just to chat, until they are desperate. There is a natural defensive mindset at play here...obviously.

One way to resolve it could be to have a Steward go up to them and tell them to make sure and chat with Mr. so and so (real good if in the same class or race group) and tell him where Mr. so and so is paddocked.

Mr. so and so could be warned in advance by the Stewards so when Mr./Ms. rookie drops by, Mr. so and so can greet him/her as "mr./Ms. rookie"...glad you stopped by!

[JLawton]

NER had talked a little bit about that last year. Possibly having mentors at the track wearing special shirts or hats IDing them as mentors.

[gran racing]

Yeah, I found that to be the case with myself too. It's pretty intimidating asking some guys (especially the fast ones!) for advice. It would be nice for each region to have someone call every new member with a quick "welcome to the club, if you have any questions about the process don't be afraid to reach out to us / me."

If anyone has suggestions on what it would take to make this a success, tips on it, or other ideas, please post them.

[DavidM]

I think it starts before a person gets to the track for the first time. I bought a car and was like WTF do I do now? I went to a few events first, but, like people said, it's a little intimidating just to walk up to someone and start asking them questions. Especially if they're busy working on the car. That's where the "Mentor" shirt could help - assuming you see said person. I posted on here to try and get some help. Bowie and Tristan were cool enough to meet up with me and help me get going. That was invaluable and I think I still have the list of stuff I wrote down somewhere.

I've always thought it would be good to have a list on the SCCA website of people newbies could contact. Break it down by region and then cities within the region. Maybe even have different people for different classes. Someone for IT, someone for Prod, etc. Someone looking to get going could contact a local person racing in their class.

I'd be up for helping out however I could. There are lots of IT people in the Atlanta area, most much more knowledgeable than me, but if someone needs a contact then I'm up for it. I'm definitely no mentor for driving. We all know that part of the fun of going to the track is the camaraderie and I think the more that we can include new folks the more likely they are to stick around. I certainly know the meeting I had with Bowie and Tristan made me feel much more comfortable.

David

[Dano77]

Why do you have to wait for the new guy to come to you? They are usually easy to spot and always open to "Hi Im dan ,need a hand with your tent thats taking flight" pretty soon everybody in the class knows them. The northeast guys are pretty open to new guys and helpful if for no other reason than our car breaks and we can help someone else. Cool club to be in if you ask me.
Dan 77 IT7

[gran racing]

Dan, while I agree but that's pretty late in the game if you ask me. By that time they've figured out much of the basics. How they even get to that point is the challenge.

When I originally heard the numbers, it shocked me. On average for the past several years, SCCA gain 10,000 members!!! That's quite a few. The sad part is we also lose an average amount of 10,000 members. So the goal here really is to reach out to those people that join and need some extra help. A written resource is nice and all, but sometimes having an actual human voice is what it takes to make things work out.

Club racing is only a part of this. Autocross and HPDE as well. My thought was that since SCCA is lacking a quality HPDE program (okay, so some regions host a PDX from time-to-time), a mentor program like this could help build a bridge into Club Racing for those that have that interest.

I personally think it's seriously as simple as someone speaking with a person before their first HPDE, a follow-up afterwords, and open line of communication. Maybe I'm totally off base with all of this? It wouldn't be the first time or the last.

David - it's not about racing lines or becoming a winning driver. It's primarily just about being there and what do I do when I arrive at my first event at Road Atlanta? In fact, sometimes I think someone whose still quite new to the game can be an even better mentor in some aspects compared to a seasoned veteran. The reason is people who have been in the game for a while sometimes take too many things for granted. A relatively new person to the scene vividly remembers what it was all like. There are positives to both experience levels.

[Dano77]

Now I got it.. Duh Didnt read first before I spoke,sounds like a cool idea.:cool:

[lateapex911]

"Hi Im dan ,need a hand with your tent thats taking flight?"
Dan 77 IT7

I'm using that line! From now on good looking girls, fame and fortune are mine!

[callard]

Dave's right about the need. I did some PDX instruction and those guys were prime candidates for next steps. I've since spent a couple years getting questions/updates from and providing guidance to some of those students.
If we can get enough interest in folks interested in volunteering as mentors, then we need to set up the infrastructure. Sounds like it could be web-based once some guidelines were established.
Regards,
Chuck

[alberto_mg]

I'd be interested in having a mentor. There has always been an excuse for me not to race - be it work, fear due to lack of knowledge on how to get started or worry about the financial aspects of racing.

I've been spending a lot of time this year just going to SCCA events in Nor Cal to watch a recently made friend race. Prior to meeting that friend, I'd go and walk around during a race weekend and strike up conversations with people in different series. Its hard to know who to approach. Some people are easy to talk to and helpful. Others are busy. Others are just not easy to talk to and don't communicate effectively. Gathering sufficient knowledge to feel comfortable is a long process - at least to someone like me.

I've been doing HPDE since 1988 on and off depending on how busy I've been or how crappy my car was. I stopped for a while to race karts which was a great learning experience. I now feel too old to race karts (my back isn't what it used to be) and recently acquired a free Miata that is being transformed at my leisure to a race car. My current plan is to do some HPDE NASA events to get familiar with the car and slowly get it prepped. Target for my first race is late 2010 or early 2011. I'll probably be too busy with work in the first half of this year. Having someone I can talk to (not just exchange messages on forums) would definitely make it easier.

I think I've read every book on the topic. Hopefully this is my year.

[gran racing]

Managing the program behind the scenes is where I'm at complete a loss. I agree, using some type of software such as a web based tools would be a huge plus. As it stands now, the only thing I can of doing sending out Word doc prepared questionnaires - one for students and one for mentors. Then taking that information and manually putting it into Excel. I realize that's not at all efficient or the best way to do it.

If anyone would be willing to help with this, there a ton of different areas where your help could be used in addition to mentors.

I've heard that a few people have attempted this in the past but it kinda fizzled away. I don't think this is something one person can effectively do by themselves.

[gran racing]

Alberto,

Actually, you could provide some initial help with this project as well. Even if it's as simple as reading the student questionnaire, and asking "how will this work" from a student's perspective. Sometimes as we gain more experience, we also take a lot for granted. If you'd be interested in assisting in this way, PM me your e-mail address along with first & last name.

For those interested in obtaining a mentor, the best way I could think of managing the communication was to implement a newsletter. (This website will be undergoing a significant amount of changes in the near future.) To sign-up for the newsletter, you can go to the below link.

http://www.goaheadtakethewheel.com/Newsletter.html

[Flyinglizard]

Good Idea. Count me in. MM

[alberto_mg]

Alberto,

Actually, you could provide some initial help with this project as well. Even if it's as simple as reading the student questionnaire, and asking "how will this work" from a student's perspective. Sometimes as we gain more experience, we also take a lot for granted. If you'd be interested in assisting in this way, PM me your e-mail address along with first & last name.

For those interested in obtaining a mentor, the best way I could think of managing the communication was to implement a newsletter. (This website will be undergoing a significant amount of changes in the near future.) To sign-up for the newsletter, you can go to the below link.

http://www.goaheadtakethewheel.com/Newsletter.html

I can help you out building the web site. Pm incoming.

[Flyinglizard]

Why dont we address the questions here?? The webmaster could add a heading, the noobs could post questions, place and date, the old coots could make the conection here. find each other at the track ,or shop, It could be love at first sight..
MM

[gran racing]

Something like this could be done here too, but my goal is to expand this well beyond IT racing to include autocross, HPDEs, and all categories of Club Racing. Also, as much as I'm a huge SCCA supporter, I'd also like to have this set-up so people interested in participating with other organizations such as NASA will have access to a mentor.

The thought of actually moving forward with a mentor program came about as I was working on the development of my new website where all of the contents from that book I wrote about getting into racing will be made available to people. I will also be adding information about general driving techniques among may other topics. SCCA having a mentor program is something I've often thought as another missing piece, and I suppose that I either need to put up or shut up. Now only if I could get SCCA to contribute financially to this to help get closer to that far away break-even point with this resource effort.

[Flyinglizard]

NASA is a lot more noob friendly. Just by their race license program alone. We ran NASA for the first time last summer and I was very impressed. Lots of new blood,lots of cash in the cars. SCCA has missed some things, that NASA has picked up. The spec classes seem towork,etc.

[alberto_mg]

Don't forget about other race organizations - BMW, Porsche, Rally, Motorcycle stuff etc.

[nlevine]

The Boston Chapter of the BMW CCA has a really good mentor program for their driver's school program. If you volunteer to be a mentor (typically the Group 1 and Group 2 advanced students), you get assigned a novice participant. You're supposed to contact the novice some weeks prior to the event, chat about what to expect, their goals for the school, give them the lay of the land, etc. It then helps to arrange to meet at the event - paddock next to them, etc. and keep checking in during the day. Even just knowing where to park and who to talk to for what, can be intimidating for some on top everything else going on at a first event.

I was gratified to see students I mentored initially get completely hooked into the sport, eventually becoming club racers..