FIRST EVENT PREFERENCING
This Thursday at noon you can create a list of your choices for your first event right in your dashboard. Keep in mind, whatever events you put on this list are JUST FOR THE FIRST event, not the second. This list has no bearing on your second event picks. You will create a second event list on Oct 21 which might or might not be the same!

GET EVENT READY TO PREFERENCE
Before you can create a preference list for your first event, you will need to clear all of the outstanding tasks in your dashboard. This includes updating your YPP if needed, signing the 2022 consent and release form, as well as anything else your dashboard tells you is outstanding.

THE FULL LIST OF MICHIGAN EVENTS
The list of all of our events for the 2022 season can be found on our FIM events webpage
firstinmichigan.us/FRC/events
Thank you to all our amazing venues that stepped up to host.  A few are new for us.  Also new are a few Sat-Sun events.   With COVID, some schools were more comfortable hosting on the weekend. These events will load in on Friday night.

WHICH EVENT IS YOUR HOME EVENT?
You can find a link to your assigned home event right above the event list on the FIM FRC events webpage.
firstinmichigan.us/FRC/events
The computer determines the event that is geographically closest to you and calls that your home event.  There is no magic. We had a few events which had more home event teams than spots so we made a few adjustments manually.

YOU ARE GUARANTEED A SPOT AT YOUR HOME EVENT DURING FIRST EVENT PREFERENCING
You do not have to sign up for your home event, but IF YOU WANT IT, you are guaranteed a spot there ONLY during first event preferencing only. Right after first event preferencing closes on the 20th, the computer will assign all home event teams first. Spots left over (minus any spots held in reserve) will be filled with non-home event teams.

KETTERING HOME EVENT TEAMS
If Kettering is your home event (we didn’t distinguish between Kettering 1 and Kettering 2 for home events) please pick which Kettering you want and ONLY include this event on your list… No others. You will get a notice that you are waitlisted and we will manually move you in right away.

Others who want Kettering but it is not your assigned home event, will go on the waitlist but won’t get moved in right away.

EVENT PREFERENCING IS NOT TIED TO PAYMENT.
Payment isn’t due for registration until November. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY TO PREFERENCE FOR AN EVENT. Simply go in and submit your list of first event choices.

MDE GRANT
We will once again have an MDE grant for both team support and a coach stipend. The final amounts have not been set but awards will be in the range of 2020 and 2021 amounts. The grant should open near the end of October.  The grant is being moved out of MEGS+ to a different platform and the new platform is not quite ready. We will let you know the minute we hear an opening date. Your district will be notified by the MDE as well.

COVID PROTOCOLS FOR FRC
Our plan this season is for all events to be physical this season. Your safety is our prime concern. You will notice on our website that masks are mandatory during our fall off-season events, as well as during FTC and FLL events.  This will likely be the case for FRC but we will make the final determination as to what is required closer to our March event season.

At a minimum, FRC events will follow the CDC and Michigan guidelines. Some venues may have additional requirements. These requirements, if any, will be included in the individual event’s info (the link again is firstinmichigan.us/FRC/events), as soon as it is available. We will link them through the event name, just as we did for the two remaining offseason events at Lapeer and the Bloomfield Hills.

A REBUILDING YEAR FOR LOTS OF TEAMS
We are aware that this will be a rebuilding year for lots of teams because the pandemic took its toll on the students, mentors and coaches. If you are having any issues, please do not hesitate to call me. I am here to help.

The silver lining is that if ever there was a year to be a new coach, new mentor or to have to recruit new students, this is it! The playing field is far more level than ever before! So many of our teams are in the same position.

Please remember that team blasts like this one are uploaded to the FIM website and can be found here-
https://firstinmichigan.us/FRC/resources/

All the Best,
Gail Alpert
248-425-4148
gail@firstinmichigan.org