2016-2017 Email Blast #4

Louisiana FIRST Tech Challenge Coaches,

1. Registration update
2. Qualifier schedule
   
3. Qualifier registration
   
4. Qualifier fee (** deadline **)
5. Scrimmages
   
6. Game manual updates
   

1. Registration update

We are up to 28 teams registered in Louisiana with 25 or 26 competing.

2. Qualifier Schedule

We didn’t get any offers to host a December event, so our schedule looks like this.

Qualifier 1: January 21 at Academy of Our Lady in Marrero

Qualifier 2: February 11 at Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge

Regional Championship: March 4 at University of New Orleans

We know, this schedule does not offer teams a lot of time for making upgrades between events.  A scrimmage before the end of the year would be really helpful.

3. Qualifier registration 

Both Qualifiers are open to all teams for a single tournament fee of $200.  Teams may attend one or two Qualifiers for the one fee.  This may make the Qualifiers large, requiring more volunteers, but it gives teams the most experience.

The January 21 Qualifier is listed on the FIRST website -this allows volunteers to begin training.  The February and March events will post soon.

We’re not sure how event registration will work but it will probably be a simple Google form – we’ll get word out on that ASAP.
Note that Dean’s List nominations for the January qualifier will be due in mid-December.  Mentors submit the Dean’s List nominations and identify the event where the student will interview with the Dean’s List judges.

4. Qualifier fees
   

Qualifier tournament fees are to be paid to FIRST Louisiana Mississippi, Inc.  Thanks to the 8 teams that sent theirs in.   There are 10 teams still unpaid as of last weekend, so please get those in.  We need to order awards for a January Qualifier during November, so please use the form we sent previously and have your $200 Qualifier fee received by NOVEMBER 22 (the address is on the form).

FIRST LA-MS. Inc. is an IRS 501(c)(3) non-profit.  If your school needs a copy of their W9 form, we can get that to you.

If you qualified for the CLECO grant, that is being processed now.  I’ll send confirmation separately.

5. Scrimmages

We’d like to have at least one scrimmage opportunity to complement the Qualifiers.  It would be great if we could find two hosts, one each in New Orleans and the Baton Rouge area, for half-day scrimmages similar to last year’s league meets on Friday evenings or Saturdays.  We have two fields and field sets so we can lend those out to the scrimmage hosts for those weekends.

If you’re willing to host a scrimmage in your area, let us know when and we’ll get that rolling by spreading the word and arranging to get you a field set.

6. FTC Game Forum and Game Manual Updates 

The FTC Forum is a great source of information (especially for rookie teams), and as far as the game rules are concerned, the FTC Forum is the only official source for clarifications and rulings that aren’t already covered in the game manuals. Your Team’s Username and Password for the Forums (only needed if you want/need to post) can be found on the bottom right-hand corner of your teams Dashboard page on the FIRST website. The FTC game and technical forums can be found here: http://ftcforum.usfirst.org/forum.php

There have been some updates to the Game Manuals, including a new low-cost phone option.   You can keep an eye on the Resources page at FIRST for the dates of the latest updates to those, and at the front of the PDF it should show what changes have been made.