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

All leagues have created an initial set of league meets, and some leagues have established the full season schedule. This also means that leagues are also looking for volunteers to help run the events. The focus of this newsletter is to help coaches learn about what league events are available and how to register for the events. This newsletter also includes information about how you can register to volunteer at an event.

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

1. League Event/Meet Schedules Published
2. Register to Participate in League Meets
3. Remote Event Scoring Software
4. Volunteer Registration Open

Newsletter Details:

1. League Event/Meet Schedules Published – Initial league meet dates and locations have been published to the www.flfirst.org website. The league event schedule can be found by going to the following web page: http://www.flfirst.org/index.php/season/events.   Scroll down through the page to find your league. Each event includes information such as the type of event (Remote or Traditional), date, and location.

1. Register to Participate in League Meets – As described above, league events are published on the www.flfirst.org website and can be found on the following page: http://www.flfirst.org/index.php/season/events.   It is important that teams register to attend league and state events to help the event organizers prepare the venue or setup the remote scoring software for the number of teams that will be participating. If your team would like to attend an event, you must register for the event by selecting the blue highlighted word “Open” to go to the event registration page.. You will need a six-digit passcode to register for events. Within a week of you completing your FIRST team registration process, you should have received an automated email from the first.flfirst.org website with your passcode. Please keep this email in safe place as you will use the same passcode throughout the 2021-21 season to register for events.  If you did not receive the passcode email or cannot find it, I suggest you first check through your SPAM folder and if you still not able to locate the email you can request the code by visiting the following web page: https://ftc.flfirst.org/Registration_System/resend_passcode.php
   
   
2. Remote Event Scoring Software – Remote events allow teams to run matches on their own fields and submit match scores through a cloud-based scoring system.  The two coaches that are registered with the team on the FIRST website (www.firstinspires.org) will have access to the FTC Scoring Software through their account by logging in the FIRST dashboard.  You will use the software to run practice matches and well as league meet/scrimmage matches.  Teams can also access the remote event scoring software by going to the following web page (URL):  https://ftc-scoring.firstinspires.org/. Team coaches that have completed the online consent form and the background check process will be able to access the software using their FIRST account credentials (user ID email address and password that you use to login to the FIRST dashboard). I encourage all Florida FTC teams that will be participating in remote events to login to the scoring software and submit test match scores even if you do not have a running robot. The results from this event will not be used as a part of the league ranking.
3. Volunteer Registration Open – League meets require 20-30 volunteers to run a successful and secure event. Therefore, all leagues need volunteers and all of the events have now been setup in the FIRST Volunteer Management System (VMS). You can access the FIRST VMS system by logging in to your dashboard on the www.firstinspires.org website. Start the volunteer registration process by selection the “VOLUNTEER REGISTRATION” section of your dashboard and then go to “Event Volunteering”. Search for FIRST Tech Challenge Evens in Florida.