Greetings Florida FTC Teams, Coaches, Volunteers, and Sponsors:

Welcome to the nineteenth (19) Florida FIRST Tech Challenge season (2023-24) and the game CENTERSTAGE^SM presented by Raytheon Technologies. The five-week countdown to the season kick-off has officially started. On September 9. 2023 we will get answers to questions like: Does the game include any new game elements that we have not seen before, why have sections 7.4 and 7.5 of game manual part 1 been updated to include not just a “Team Scoring Element” but also a “Team Game Element”, why are teams now allowed to user lasers.  What questions do you have?

FIRST team registration is currently open and by the middle of September we will start posting league events that you can register to attend by going to the www.flfirst.org website.  The CENTERSTAGE^SM game reveal will be on September 9, 2023. As part of the FIRST IN SHOW season, the FIRST Tech Challenge game will celebrate the roles our STEM skills play in the arts and design and build a world of endless possibilities. You can see the season teaser by watching the following video: https://youtu.be/pTvP165wi3E

The primary purpose for this email is to provide you more information about the upcoming Florida (online) kick-off event and help you prepare for the coming FIRST Tech Challenge season.  It is never too late to start your engineering notebook and adding team outreach events to build your first steps toward winning the Inspire Award at your League Championship and the Florida Championship.  A great place to start earning your Gracious Professionalism points is to attend a kick-off event and help mentor our Florida rookie team.

The following are the topics covered in this Florida FTC newsletter:

1.            Florida FTC Remote Kick-off – September 9, 2023 at 11:45pm EDT

2.            Season Schedule

3.            Team Grant Information

4.            Game Manual Part 1 Available

Newsletter Details:

1. Florida FTC Remote Kick-off – September 9, 2023 at 11:45pm EDT – The Florida FTC season kick-off plans include combining our traditional online state-wide program with several local league hosted events. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.
   
   The agenda for the state-wide online kick-off event include the Bob & Sid show as well as AJ Foster’s Tech Think Time sessions back by popular demand.  The Florida FTC 2023-24 season will officially be started with a kick-off event hosted on the FIRST in Florida YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/FIRSTinFlorida). During the kick-off event, we will provide an update on the season plans as well as perform a walk-through of the CENTERSTAGE^SM game elements and rules. A more detailed agenda will be available a week before the kick-off event.

1. Season Schedule: The 2023-24 Florida FTC season will end with the Florida Championship on March 1-2, 2024 and will again be hosted at the Advent Fieldhouse in Winter Haven, FL. The following is the overall event schedule for the 2023-24 season:

• September 9, 2023 – Season Kick-off and game reveal
• September and October 2023 – Leagues hosting Scrimmages, Training, and Workshops
• October 2023 to January 2024 – League Meets
• February 4, 2024 – Deadline for all leagues to complete the League Tournament/Championship.  The League Tournament determines which teams qualify to attend the Florida Championship
• March 1-2, 2024 – Florida Championship at the Advent Fieldhouse in Winter Haven Florida
• April 23-27, 2024 – World Championship at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX

1. Team Grant Information – The FTC Rookie Grant is back! This grant is meant for underserved/Underrepresented Rookie FTC teams. Teams can apply directly here: https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/team-grants. Grants will be awarded weekly.
2. Game Manual Part 1 Available – This is a reminder that FIRST has already released part 1 of the game manual and coaches/teams are encouraged to start reviewing in preparation for the season kick-off.  Part 1 of the game manual can be found on the following FIRST web page: https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/game-and-season-info Please check out the recent blog post to see a summary of the rule updates.
   
   Part 2 will be released on September 9, 2023 and will contain all of the CENTERSTAGE^SM game specific rules and penalties.  Attending the Florida kick-off event described above is a great chance for your team to start learning about this season’s game.