☀️FTC Link - New Season Information, 24-25 Schedule, Geared Up

It is Time to Register!

This newsletter at a glance:

FIRST Registration Steps
FIRST Chesapeake Registration Steps
I registered, now what?
Summer Reminders
Outreach Opportunities
Summer Camps
New Season Assets

Our new season theme is now available!

Into the Deep

Registration Steps:

Beginning May 15th

Part A: Headquarters

1.Go to www.firstinspires.org/dashboard

2.Update your personal and team information in your dashboard.

3.Complete your Consent and Release form.

4.Complete your YPP screening.

5.Add Coach #2 and make sure they do the same.

6.Pay your fee to be an official team this season.

Part B: Chesapeake

1. Register online at www.firstchesapeake.org/ftc/register

2. Update your personal and team information at check out.

Remember- if the person paying is different than the person registering, note that in your registration form.

3. Follow the prompts to Pay Pal and make your payment by credit card. If an invoice is needed, please let Shelly know via email.

4.You will receive an email confirmation.

Payment of $450 will ensure you have 2 plays this season.

I registered, now what?

Begin recruiting and inviting your team members to your team via the Dashboard.
Order your field element set from AndyMark.
Order any new parts or replacement parts you need from their vendors.
Clean and organize your team build space.
Work on scheduling outreach events and thank your sponsors.
Solicit for new sponsors and partners. Summer is a great time to fundraise.
Prepare for Kickoff on September 7, 2024.
Talk with your parents and/or school about transportation for this coming season's events.

Summer Reminders

Off season is a great time to reflect on the former season and prepare for the next one
Attend summer programs in the District including Maker Fairs, Summer Camps, and virtual training sessions.
Do some outreach activities and recruit new members.
Recruit parents and families to be volunteers in the coming season.
Recruit those in your networks to be volunteers in the coming season.
Send email introductions to Shelly with contacts at local businesses, schools, and STEM orgs so that Shelly can help recruit in your area.

Schedule for 2024-2025

Into the Deep

This is the tentative schedule for next season to be used for planning purposes. This schedule is subject to change. A final schedule will be released as soon as it is available.

2024

November 23

Washington DC

November 23

Charlottesville, VA

November 24

Washington DC

December 7

Union Bridge, MD

December 8

Gaithersburg, MD

December 14

Northern VA Location TBD

December 14

Glen Allen, VA

2025

January 11

Laurel, MD

January 11

Virginia Beach, VA

January 18

McHenry, MD

January 18

Harrisonburg, VA

January 19

Harrisonburg, VA

January 19

Herndon, VA

January 25

Bassett, VA

January 25

MD Location TBD

February 8

FTC Championship

TBD

Season Assets Available

These handy resources can help you prepare for next season. Use your Spring and Summer to recruit new students, add new sponsors, and share what FIRST is all about to your community.

REMEMBER

Recruitment for volunteers is most effective at the local level. Start sharing our schedule now with those in your networks who can volunteer at our events. Use these assets to help in that effort.

There is a customizable recruitment poster available!

Use these are events you attend this summer to help us recruit new volunteers and get more teams involved.

Get Season Assets

Outreach Opportunities

HEAV Conference in Greater Richmond

Lord of Bricks is seeking teams who would like to demonstrate their robots for the HEAV conference.

June 6th - June 8th

Interested? Email Shari.

Richmond STEM Summer Camp Demo

Dive into STEM Summer Camp in Richmond VA is looking for a few teams to come and demonstrate their robots and tell their attendees about FIRST robotics. This is a great opportunity for you to shine and share plus network at VCU with faculty and staff.

July 15 through July 19th Demo Dates for the week are flexible but likely on July 19th.

VCU College of Engineering

Email Shelly if you would like to attend.

Reston Interstellar Space Dream Center Summer Camp Demo

This summer camp is looking for teams who would like to demonstrate their robots during the weeks of:

June 24-28th

July 8th-12th

August 5th-9th

August 12th-16th

Email Shelly if you would like to attend.

MTI Volunteer Application is Open

Maryland Tech Invitational Needs Vols!

June 28-30, 2024

Johns Hopkins University - Applied Physics Lab (APL) in Laurel, MD

Apply here!

Summer Camp Opportunities

Summer FTC: Rising Tides

Is your team looking to train new members over the summer? Or do your more experienced members want to learn new skills without the stress of a competitive FTC season? Come join us for our mock FTC game: Rising Tides, presented by team 19458 Equilibrium.exe. We will be hosting a scrimmage for this custom 1v1 game at the end of the summer, and all are welcome to participate!

Game manual: https://tinyurl.com/rising-tides-manual

New River Robotics Summer Series: Panda Pals

All Programs are offered in the New River Valley in VA!

Click here to learn more

Not on Slack...It is time to fix that!

Join our Slack Community for better communication among teams! This is a great way to connect with other teams, mentors, and FIRST Chesapeake Staff.

Join FIRST Chesapeake's Slack Channel

Need to talk? Have a question?

NEW! Virtual Suggestion Box!

Do you have an idea or suggestion that might help us improve?

Share it here!

Thanks,

Shelly Stoddard

sstoddard@firstchesapeake.org