FIRST Tech Challenge Community

Q: Who is on this blog/email list?  A: Everyone - all coaches, mentors and team representatives and some volunteers 
After some thought I have decided not to break out League teams from Non-League teams when sending out the FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon Update during the League Meet season.  I feel non-league teams can benefit from reading about tournament preparations in advance of their January non-league events.

REMINDERS FOR EVERYONE!
League Payments were due on Oct 31 and Non-League are due on November 15
Are you paid - League? Are you paid - Non-League
Payment information - League  and Non-League 

REMINDERS FOR LEAGUE MEET ONE 
11/11 – Capitol League, 11/15 – Central Oregon & Columbia Basin, 11/16 – Mid-Columbia & Mid-Western, 11/17 – Rose City, 11/18 – SOAR & Silicon Forest, 11/19 – Tualatin Valley

If you are registered with a league your team should attend all three official scoring meets. At the end of December the scoring system will select the best 10 of 15 matches played to compile a ranking list for the start of the League Tournament in January.   League Teams should come to the League Meet even if their robot is not ready to play.  Help will be provided to all teams who attend.

• FIRST Consent and Release Form at Check-in 
• Every team is required to bring the official PRINTED Team Roster  from the FIRST Dashboard to every Meet.  This must be handed in at Team Check-in. Saying you did it online isn't enough. You need to print it and bring it 
• listed on the printed team roster will be every registered coach and mentor 
• listed will be every student who is signed up electronically 
• also for each person under the Consent Column will be
•  a check mark = YES, an electronically signed Consent and Release form is on file or 
• an "X" = there is No Consent or Release form on file, this means a paper FIRST Consent and Release form must be attached to the back of the roster and the names hand written onto the bottom of the form 
• What if our whole team is submitting only paper Consent forms? 
• The Printed Roster from the FIRST Dashboard listing the two registered mentors must be presented, all students and other coaches hand written on the bottom of the form and all paper copies of the signed FIRST Consent and Release forms stapled to the back of the roster. 
• LINKS FOR MORE HELP AND THE PAPER FORM 
• Bring and wear Safety Glasses over your eyes in the PIT and at the Field. It is a rule Game Manual 1 - <T15>  No backtalk to volunteers who tell team members to put on their safety glasses. Doing so could result in  Game Manual <T2> infraction. 
• Read your emails from our League Manager. They are important. 

TIPS for DOING YOUR BEST AT LEAGUE MEET ONE 

• Do a Robot inspection at your last meeting prior to the meet - using the Robot inspection sheet  - bring the sheet with you to go over it with the Inspector 
• Do a Field inspection of your robot  at your last meeting prior to the meet - using the Field Inspection sheet - bring it with you to go over it with the Field Inspector 
• Expectation for League Meet One: All robots must go through Robot and Field Inspection in the time period allotted by the League Manager in order to play. 
• Robots will play in the matches as long as the robot is safe to operate but might not have passed all aspects of Robot Inspection. (the requirement to fully comply increases with every meet) 
•  Robots must pass Field Inspection. Your robot must move to play and be a contributing member of an alliance. 
• Practice the transition from Autonomous to Teleop
• Read Game Manual 2 - The points count and so do the penalties in League Meet One. 
• Read the Game Forum and ask questions relevant to your team - print it and bring it to show a referee 
• When the League Manager is making announcements, show respect, be quiet and listen. 
• LABEL EVERYTHING with your team number so that it can be returned to your team when you forget it. Specifically batteries, phone chargers, phone charger cables, tool boxes, safety glasses. 
• Write what happens during your meetings and at the meets in your Engineering Notebook. 

Other items for League Play  

• Adult Coaches/Mentors cannot stand with their team's  Drive team in the Queuing Line, at the Queuing Table or at the Field.  Mentors and other team members must sit/stand in the audience.  Keeping the playing fields clear of extraneous people was a problem at League Meet Zero at some locations. 
• Holding phones during Autonomous is not allowed  - At some locations we did not have a stand for the phones/controllers. We are correcting that. 
• Don't take stuff that doesn't belong to you. -  Mentors at the Silicon Forest League, please look for two Rev Robotics batteries that do not belong to your team. They are not marked with a team number but were removed from a team's pit table, not the charging station.
• As far as I know we had two impressive scores at League Meet Zero - a 147 scored at the Tualatin Valley League and a 156 scored at the Mid-Columbia League.  Go Teams!
• Offer to help set-up or clean up at your league meet. It is much appreciated

SUPER-QUALIFIERS - Feb 10 & 11 
Traditionally we have advanced* 96 teams to Super-Qualifier Weekend (4 tournaments)  to determine the field of 48 teams to compete in the State Championship (Feb 24-25 Liberty HS, Hillsboro).  This season is it going work a bit differently. Instead of four 24-team tournaments, we will hold three 32-team tournaments. 
These will be:
Delta - Saturday, Feb 10 at Evergreen Middle School, Hillsboro
Theta - Sunday, Feb 11 at Evergreen Middle School, Hillsboro
Pi - Sunday, February 10 at Benson Polytechnic High School, Portland

Why the change? 
We submitted multiple building requests over the past 6 months to a variety of schools and other types of venues. Either we were turned down because venue was booked for basketball or after our permit was approved, it was rescinded so that a basketball** event could be run. So the best we could do was come up with three venues and divide the teams differently. 96 teams will still compete and 48 will advance to the State Championship.  Our thanks to Hillsboro SD and Portland Public SD for welcoming us to hold our events. 
* advancement rule - Game Manual 1 - Sec 7.4 Order of Advancement. page 24 
**In 2016  624K tech jobs went unfilled and 92 men and women were drafted to play in the NBA and WNBA

HOT LINKS to make life easier!  

• We have a FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon website! 
• FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon HOT TOPICS! 
• FTC Relic Recovery Game Materials 
• FIRST Tech Challenge Game and Season Info
• FIRST Tech Challenge Game Forum 
• Know what the Referees, Inspectors, Judges and FTAs know 
• Help with getting team members signed up electronically and get parents/guardians to sign the FIRST Consent and Release form electronically