09.27 Team Eblast

Home Event Pre-assignment List Posted  l  1st Round Event Registration will open 7am, Oct 4  l  MDE 99h Grant Open 10/1-10/31  l  Resources & Reminders

HOME EVENT PRE-ASSiGNMENT

The list of FTC Home Event Pre-assignments is posted on the FiM FTC EVENTS site page. The direct link can be found here: 2022-23 FTC Home Event Pre-assignments (link).

  • Teams have been pre-assigned to their nearest “home” event based on travel distance parameters and event capacity.
  • League teams have been pre-assigned to their affiliated League Tournament as their home event.
  • This is a pre-assignment and not an event placement. If the pre-assigned home event doesn’t work for your team, the team can opt-out as part of the 1st Round Registration process and provide 5 ranked alternative preferences for placement.
  • For some events, the number of area teams exceeded the number of available event slots so event pre-assignment was made to the next closest event and so on, as space allowed.
  • If your pre-assigned home event is a ridiculous distance away from your school, email me as I might have an incorrect address for your team’s affiliated entity.
1ST ROUND EVENT REGISTRATION – Opens 7am, October 4

Visit the FiM FTC EVENTS site page for the fall list of competitions. League meets are still being added to the list. All fall events will follow the traditional (physical) event rollout.

Unlike the high school FRC program, event registration for FTC/FLLC/FLLE is done at the local level with FIRST in Michigan. A synopsis is below of the FiM FTC event 1st round registration process. Details of the entire event registration process (1st round, 2nd round, advancement, etc.) can be found on the https://firstinmichigan.us/FTC/event-registration/ site page.

IMPORTANT: Teams must be registered for the 2022-23 season in order to be placed in an event. If a team submits a 1st Round Event Registration form but is not registered with FIRST for the 2022-23 season ($295 season reg. fee is paid), the event registration form will not be processed until the team’s season registration is complete. If the team’s season registration is delayed for some reason, an EVENT STATUS form needs to be submitted sharing the reason for the delay.

1st Round Event Registration - Oct. 4 (anticipated)

  • The 1st round event registration google form will be emailed via team eblast to the Team Administrator and Lead Coach/Mentor 1 and 2 for each team. ONE 1st round event registration form should be submitted per team.
  • Form responses are date and time stamped upon submission.
  • A team will have a choice to either “keep” their pre-assigned home event spot OR choose to “opt out” and provide at least 4 alternative ranked 1st round event preferences via the “change” option. A form is required from each team regardless of the choice.
  • For multiple teams out of the same school/org. that want to be placed in the same event: Opting to “keep” your team’s Home Event Pre-assignment is the only choice that guarantees that this occurs due to capacity constraints at events.
  • Opt out (Change Home Event) submissions are processed in a date/timestamp order after Home Event opt-ins (Keep Home Event) are processed.  Quick submissions are recommended!
  • If choosing to “change” your team’s 1st round event from the event the team was pre-assigned, be prepared to provide up to 5 ranked alternative preferences. Note that these are preferences and not a guarantee that your team will be placed in one of their preferred alternative events.
  • If a team is choosing to “change” their pre-assigned home event and the team’s provided ranked preference(s) are full when the form is processed, the team will get placed in their home event by default.
  • League teams will automatically be placed in their respective FTC League Tournament event for the 1st round event registration. Those teams should choose to “keep” their pre-assigned league tournament event.
  • Note that the google form list of events for “changes” might not resolve well on small screens i.e. phones, as that section is long/wide.
  • You will be able to choose to be emailed your form responses at the end of the form. You must choose this option for it to occur. Some email handlers do not handle this feature well.
  • Reminder that FTC teams do not see their confirmed event placements on their Team Dashboard. Confirmed event placements will be posted on the MI FTC Team List.

 ADVANCEMENT ALLOCATIONS

Visit the EVENT REGISTRATION PROCESS site page for the advancement allocations by qualifier/league tournament. There could be adjustments based on an event’s actual team population.

The advancement allocation list also includes the qualifier’s/league tournament’s State Championship advancing event.

If a team has a strong preference for attending a particular State Championship event, the team should choose to participate in qualifying events that advance to that preferred State Championship event. It will not be possible to switch an advancing team from one State Championship event to the other.

Teams can only earn an advancement spot once at a given competition level. For example, once a team earns a States advancement spot at a qualifier/league tournament, they are no longer eligible to earn a States advancement spot from a subsequent qualifier/league tournament. They can still be eligible for all awards at the subsequent qualifier/league tournaments, just not another States advancement spot. The caveat to this statement is that teams can only earn the Inspire Award once at a given competition level. Advancement and awards are tracked through the FTC Scoring system.

Competition Levels: 1) Qualifiers/League Tournaments  2) States  3) FIRST Championship

MDE 99h STATE GRANT

The MDE 99h state grant opens: on Oct 1 and closes: Oct 31 at 4:30 pm. This is a hard deadline with no leeway at all this season.  

This application window is shorter than ever before. If you are toying with the idea of competing this season, even though you have not made a final decision, please play it safe and have the district fill out the grant. If the team doesn’t participate, we will simply let the MDE know.

Since you won’t be able to make any corrections to your district’s application once the grant closes, get it in early so you can review it (and we can too) and make any needed modifications.

THE GRANT IS IN NEXSYS UNDER 99H: ROBOTICS GRANT

The grant application can be found in NexSys again. The name of the grant is 99h: Robotics Grant.  Remember that the district files ONE APPLICATION for all of the robotics teams in the district. 

The MDE made improvements to the application from lessons learned last season. You will be excited to hear that the student roster is no longer required!

*As in past years, if the application requests exceed the total funding appropriation, the MDE will reduce all awards by the same percentage. This means everyone who puts in an application correctly will get funding!** One robotics stipend per building

Team Type Support Award Coaching Stipend
High School FRC
FIRST Robotics – Rookie $9,000 $1,500
FIRST Robotics – Veteran $6,000 $1,500
Middle School FTC
FIRST Tech Challenge – Rookie $1,500 $1,000
FIRST Tech Challenge – Veteran $1,500 $1,000
Late Elementary- FLL Challenge
FIRST LEGO League-Challenge – Rookie $1,000 $500
FIRST LEGO League-Challenge – Veteran $500 $500
Early Elementary- FLL Explore
FIRST LEGO League-Explore – Rookie $500 $500
FIRST LEGO League-Explore – Veteran $250 $500
PreSchool and Early K
FIRST LEGO League-Discover – Rookie $500 $500
FIRST LEGO League-Discover – Veteran $300 $500
  • As in past years, if the application requests exceed the total funding appropriation, the MDE will reduce all awards by the same percentage. This means everyone who puts in an application correctly will get funding!
  • One robotics stipend per building.

Webinar: The MDE will run a webinar on Thursday afternoon of this week. Details can be found here. I will update you again once we have more details on what the application looks like.

REMINDER ACTION ITEM: EVENT STATUS AND “SHARE THE SPARE” FORM

If you haven’t already, please fill out the form linked below. The registration status information will be used to assist with home event pre-assignment.

  1. Season registration status: This will assist with event planning and home event pre-assignment.
  2. “Share the Spare” program: To assist our teams that are affected by backorders of key components.

FORM LINK: EVENT STATUS & “SHARE THE SPARE Form

GREAT RESOURCES

FTC Docs
Check out the new FIRST Tech Challenge Documentation site: https://ftc-docs.firstinspires.org/index.html. Especially note the Control System Resources which have fabulous diagrams. This resource is still in development mode so visit often!

FTC Programming Simulator
If your programmers wish they didn’t have to wait for the robot to be done before they could start learning and writing code, this resource is for you!

FTC SIM is a FREE virtual coding tool, developed by FIRST Canada, that allows users to code and run a virtual FIRST Tech Challenge robot autonomously! Users can learn everything from basic movement to how to use sensors by completing a series of puzzles using Blocks or Java. Each puzzle has a link to a YouTube tutorial that goes over the skill needed to solve the puzzle. There are also additional tutorials on FIRST Canada’s YouTube Channel that cover more advanced concepts.

Users can test out their skills by programming an Elevator Bot (designed by Studica) or an EduBot (designed by REV Robotics) to complete tasks on the FREIGHT FRENZY presented by Raytheon Technologies FIRST Tech Challenge Competition or Class Pack field. The POWERPLAY presented by Raytheon Technologies field will also be available in FTC SIM after Kickoff this year!

 2022-23 TEAM SEASON REGISTRATION

Team registration for the 2022-23 season is open! The $295 season registration fee can be paid via the FTC Storefront accessible from the Team Dashboard through firstinspires.org.

Teams must be fully registered for the current season in order to register for FiM FTC competitions.

New Teams

New Teams (rookies) – FIRST HQ once again has their FTC Rookie Team Grant available! This grant works with the FIRST in Michigan FTC Rookie Team Grant to 100% cover a newly forming FTC team’s first season registration fee and reusable kit of parts purchase.

Visit the CREATE A TEAM site page for the steps to get your new team rolling and to maximize available grants!

  • Reminder: DO NOT PAY for anything through the FTC Storefront until the grant award decisions have been received.
  • All veterans out of the same school who were past grant recipients must be registered for the current season before a newly forming team can be eligible for the FIRST HQ and/or FiM FTC Rookie Team Grant.

Returning Teams

Returning Teams (veterans) – Returning teams register with their existing team number. Check the MI Archive FTC Team List (tab 1 & 2) for a list of historical team numbers.

  • Take care of “Outstanding Tasks” on your Dashboard
    • Update the Team Profile, update team contacts as needed, Lead Coach/Mentor 1 and 2 must electronically sign the season’s FIRST Consent/Release form and check that their FIRST Youth Protection Screening is up to date.
    • Instruct any departing team contacts (Team Admin, Lead Coach/Mentor 1 and 2) to invite their replacements.
  • Veteran Team Registration Guide – contains screenshots of the process.

Dormant Teams

If you were the Team Administrator and/or Lead Coach/Mentor 1 of a team that has been dormant but wants to register for the season and you don’t see your team on your FIRST Account Dashboard anymore, email firsttechchallenge@firstinspires.org and ask them to reactivate your team. Copy me at tammy@firstinmichigan.org. Include your team number in the subject line of the email.

If a dormant team’s past Team Administrator and Lead Coach/Mentor 1 are no longer with the organization and you would like the team to be reactivated, email me at tammy@firstinmichigan.org and I can assist. Please include your team number in the subject line of the email.

Reminder that teams that have been the recipient of the FiM FTC Rookie Team Grant are expected to keep the team number and reusable robot kit of parts in play. Grant sponsors view these funds as seed money for a new team. Team members and coaches may move through the program but the FTC team number and robot kit of parts stay with the affiliated school/501c3 organization for reuse year to year. Otherwise, grant funds and/or the robot kit of parts in their entirety must be returned to FIRST in Michigan.

PROGRAM INFORMATION

To learn more about the FIRST in Michigan Progression of Programs, visit our FIRST in Michigan PK-12 Team/Class Pack Overview Guide.

Links to program information on the FIRST in Michigan (FiM) and FIRST HQ websites: