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

In the next couple of weeks, we have several league scrimmages scheduled and later in the month the first league meets.  The eight (8) Florida FIRST Tech Challenge leagues will be hosting 14 scrimmages and league meeting in the next 6 weeks, and I am sure all of our volunteers and teams will be busy.  I encourage all rookie teams to attend a scrimmage even if you do not have a working robot as this will help your team learn about the event process and more importantly, I am sure you will get some help from other teams in your league. The primary purpose of this newsletter is to help everyone prepare to attend those events including our volunteers. The following are the topics covered in this Florida FTC newsletter:

1. Definition of “Event Ready”
2. League Event Dates/Locations Updates
3. How to Register to Attend League Events (Repeat)
4. Game Manual Part 1 Re-release and Inspection Checklists
5. Dean’s List Student Nominations

1. Definition of “Event Ready” – Some of the team coaches have noticed that they are not able to register for a league meet and that is due to a change that has been implemented in the event registration system.   Specifically, you team must be defined as being “Event Ready”. “Event Ready” criteria is defined by FIRST and we are not able to add your team into the scoring software until these criteria is completed. You can determine if your team is currently defined as “Event Ready” by going to the following web page and finding your team number: http://www.flfirst.org/index.php/season/teams?view=teams.  If you see a “0” in the “Ready” column then your team will not be able to register for a league meet. The following criteria must be completed prior to any Florida FTC team participating in a league meet:

• Team must complete the FIRST registration process that includes receipt of the $295 season registration fee by FIRST.
• Team must have two coaches registered for the team through their FIRST dashboard.
• Both coaches must sign the FIRST consent and release form. The best way to accomplish this task is through your FIRST Dashboard.
• Both coaches must complete and pass the FIRST YPP screening process.
• Student team members must sign the FIRST consent and release form. The best way to accomplish this is online by have each student create a FIRST Dashboard account.

This is a requirement defined by FIRST that will be enforced by each of the Florida leagues.

2. League Event Dates/Locations Updates –
   
   The following is an event date update: In Florida Newsletter #5, the League Tournament for the Orlando Robotics League was incorrect.  The Orlando Robotics League Tournament will be on January 27, 2024 at Lake Highland Preparatory School
   
   The ROBOT league has added the following league meet:

• January 13, 2024 League Meet #3 will be at the Lakeland Christian School in Lakeland, FL
  
  

3. How to Register to Attend League Events (Repeat) -- League meet dates and locations have been published to the flfirst.org website for all of the Florida FTC Leagues. 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 date, time, and location.
   
   It is important that teams register to attend league events to help the event organizers prepare the venue and the 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 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 www.flfirst.org website with your passcode. Please keep this email in safe place as you will use the same passcode throughout the 2023-24 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://www.flfirst.org/Registration_System/resend_passcode.php

4. Game Manual Part 1 Re-release and Inspection Checklists – An update to Game Manual Part 1 was released by FIRST on October 4 and the updated manual can be found on the Game & Season Materials The Revision History on page 3 includes a list of rule/sections that have been added/changed.  One of the primary purposes for Game Manual Part 1 is that it defines the Robot and Field Inspection rules that each team must complete prior to be able to participate in a league event. Therefore, I encourage teams to use the Robot Inspection Checklist located in Appendix B and the Field Inspection Checklist located in Appendix C prior to attending a league meet.  A good best practice is for your team to perform a self-inspection on Monday of the week of your league meet to ensure your robot conforms to the required rules.  Another important tip is that you should learn about the “Self Inspect” application that is available on your Driver Station because it will help guide to the current Field Inspection issues.

5. Dean’s List Student Nomination – The deadline for submitting Dean’s List nominations is December 15, 2023.  Coaches can submit the nomination essay through your FIRST dashboard.  All nominations across all of the Florida leagues will be submitted to a single “Interview Only” event called the “Florida Dean’s List Interview” event. Coaches should select the event called “Florida Dean’s List Interview” when submitting your student Dean’s List nominations.
   
   All FIRST Tech Challenge teams/coaches are able to submit up to two (2) Dean’s List nominations.  The nominations must be a 10^th or 11^th grade student team member that best represents the FIRST program values. Each of the nominated students will be interviewed as a part of each league tournament (championship) to provide additional input to the selection of the four (4) Florida Dean’s List Finalist at the Florida Championship. The four Florida Finalist will be announced on March 2, 2024 at the Florida Championship. The final step in the process will be the selection of the ten (10) Winners at the World Championship in April, 2024.
   
   To learn more about the Dean’s List award, please review chapter 10 of the Game Manual Part 1 or go to the following FIRST web page: FIRST Tech Challenge Dean's List | FIRST (firstinspires.org).