FLL Season Update – Nov 11 – FIRST Robotics BC

Team registration for BC is now closed. We have 75 teams this season – a new record for BC!

See the main CITY SHAPER season page for more information that has been updated.

Coaches and team member online sign-up

Please remember that each team needs two coaches with their YPP screening done. I noticed that a few teams have not yet finished this process – please do it soon.
Also, please encourage the parents/guardians of your team members to get their FIRST accounts and to sign up their kids for the team. (You will have to invite the adults to sign up; they then have to apply for team membership of their kids). The adults also need to sign the online consent and release form for their kids.
It sometimes takes a while before all adults do this, so it is a good idea to start early.
If one of your team members is under 9 years old the online system will not allow them to sign up. For these kids you’ll have to bring paper consent and release forms to any event, and they have to be added to the team roster by hand.

Volunteers

We always need lots of volunteers at tournaments. Please encourage family and friends of your teams to sign up as volunteers! To do this they need to set up an account with FIRST (just like the team parents/guardians) and then go to the “volunteer registration” tab on their dashboard and select the event of their choice.
Of course any team parents/guardians are most welcome to volunteer, too.
Referees and judges should not be associated with any competing team, but all other event volunteers could be.

Qualifying tournaments

Victoria: Saturday, January 11, at Lansdowne Middle School in Victoria (1765 Lansdowne Rd, Victoria, BC V8P 1A7)
Vancouver area: Sunday, January 19, at Meadowridge School in Maple Ridge (12224 240 St, Maple Ridge, BC V4R 1N1)

Qualifying tournament registration

I had previously announced a registration period of December 1 to December 31, but it turns out that registration needs to be earlier. We will have a 3-week registration period, starting on Monday, November 18 at 8pm and ending on Monday, December 9 at 11pm.
I will email you a link to the registration form and also post the link on the website https://firstroboticsbc.org/2019/10/16/fll-season-city-shaper/ when registration starts.
The registration form will allow you to choose

1^st choice: tournament in Victoria, tournament in Vancouver, or “either is fine”

2^nd choice: the other tournament, or no tournament

We will assign tournament spots according to when registration information AND payment was received. (For example, a team filling out the form on Nov 18 and paying on Nov 24 will be assigned a spot after a team that filled out the form on Nov 20 and paid on Nov 21, and that team will be assigned a spot after a team that paid on Nov 10 and filled out the form on Nov 20.)
Once your 1^st choice of tournament is no longer available we will assign you to your 2^nd choice. If is it important to your team to attend a specific qualifier, or if you have several teams that should be at the same tournament, please register promptly after registration opens.

Payment for tournament registration

The tournament registration fee is $150. This will cover all BC tournaments (i.e. there is no extra tournament fee if your team advances to the championship).
Payment can be done by interac transfer to uleslie@firstpartners.org, by cheque made out to FIRST Robotics Society of BC (mail to: Ursula Leslie, FIRST Robotics Society of BC, 2617 Belmont Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8R 4A7) or by paypal to FIRST Robotics Society of BC (there should be a PayPal button on our website https://firstroboticsbc.org/ in the near future).

Cancellation policy

If your team registers and pays for a tournament and then has to cancel
You will get a full refund if cancelling by the end of the registration period (December 9)
You will get a $100 refund if cancelling between December 9 and December 31
You will get no refund if cancelling after December 31
If a tournament has to be cancelled, we will do a random draw to determine the advancing teams
If a tournament gets rescheduled and your team can’t make the new date, you will unfortunately have lost the chance to compete

Notification of advancement to championship tournament

Championship Tournament

Sorry to say we STILL don’t have the venue booked for this event, and it may end up being in Victoria after all!

Championship Tournament Registration

For teams from Northern, Interior and Southeastern BC, and from the Yukon: You need to register and pay the registration fee by December 31.
For all teams advancing from a qualifier: You need to register within one week of your qualifier in January
We’ll email registration form links to all teams.

Judging Details:

Core Values Poster

A Core Values Poster can be handy as a talking point during the core values interview and when people visit the team’s pit. Bringing a Core Values Poster is optional.

Robot Design Executive Summary

This season we are requiring each team to prepare a short presentation about their robot. This will help in the judging process, and of course it will help your team not to forget any important bits during the interview. Download the Robot Design Executive Summary (PDF).

Competition tables in robot judging rooms

As in previous years we will have one FLL table set up in each robot design judging room. Please note that these tables may not conform to competition standards – they may have slight bumps, or an incorrect border height, etc.

Spectators in judging rooms

No spectators are allowed in the core values interviews.
Up to two spectators can accompany their team into the robot design interview. The spectators need to stay back from the judges and the team, and they must not interfere in any way.
Anyone is welcome to watch the project presentation interviews. However the spectators need to stay back from the judges and the team, and they must not interfere in any way.
No spectators can enter any interview room after the interview has started.

Video / Photography during interviews

Spectators are welcome to take video or pictures during the interviews. (Please turn off the camera sound when taking pictures.)
We will try to videotape interviews and send the videos to the teams after the tournament.