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

The FIRST Tech Challenge 2021-22 season has officially launched with the reveal of FREIGHT FRENZY game on Saturday, September 18, 2021.  The primary purpose of this newsletter is to provide information about the Florida FTC season and provide pointers to where you can find additional information.

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

1. Tentative Season Schedule
2. Florida FTC Event Available on YouTube
3. Game Manual and Animation Video Available on FIRST Website
4. Order Field Elements from Andy Mark
5. Programming Documentation

Newsletter Details:

1. Tentative Season Schedule – Specific event dates will be published by each of our leagues in the coming weeks. Event information will be made available through this email newsletter and is also posted on the www.flfirst.org website. The following is the planned seasons schedule:

• October to November 2021                                    League Scrimmages & Workshops
• November 2021 to January 2022                          League Meets (Traditional and Remote)
• February 6, 2022                                                     Last date for League Championships
• March 4-5, 2022                                                       Florida Championship
•  

1. Florida FTC Event Available on YouTube – If you were not able to attend the Florida FTC kick-off show on Saturday, it is available on the FIRST in Florida YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG5poee69is)
   
   
2. Game Manual and Animation Video Available on FIRST Website – The FREIGHT FRENZY game manual part 2 is now available on the FIRST game & material web page: https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/game-and-season-info. Start reviewing the details of the game rules and if you have any questions post them to the game forum https://ftcforum.firstinspires.org/. Teams should also review part 1 of the game manual to help understand any robot specific restrictions and rules. For example, we received a question about using magnets on the robot during the Florida kick-off show. Section 7.3.2 has the answer to this question.
   
   
3. Order Field Elements from Andy Mark – FIRST Tech Challenge field perimeter, mats, and game elements can be purchased from the Andy Mark website (www.andymark.com). On the right-hand side of the top menu bar, you will see an area for ordering “FIRST” parts.
   
   
4. Programming Documentation – The FIRST Resource Library has documentation that can help you understand the FTC programming platform and tools that are available. Please visit the following web page for some great reference documentation: Order Field Elements from Andy Mark