🎃October FTC Updates for You: Team Placements, Volunteer Expectations, and Women in STEM Dates

FTC Link

FIRST Chesapeake's FTC News

Stay informed and connected!

Welcome to the 🎃October FTC Link Newsletter!

Check out this month's highlights and reminders!

This month's newsletter at a glance:

Event Placement completed
Judging & New Rules Webinar with Head Judge & Ref
Zoom Session: The Judging Process Explained on 10/3
New Volunteer Expectations for Teams
Rookie and New Coach Chats Available
Dean's List FTC
Event Host Interest Form 25-26 FTC Season
Women in STEM Scholarship Application + Women Hype Session
Equipment Managers

Team Placement is complete!

You should have received two emails confirming your 2 qualifiers for this season on Tuesday, 9/24.
If you did not receive two emails, please send Shelly an email to make sure there is no error in your placement.
Final Team Lists will be available on FTC-Events by end of the day on 10/1 and a final confirmation email will be sent sometime between 10/1 and 10/4.
If you have not selected qualifiers for this season, you will need to have Shelly manually add your team to events where space is available.
If you have questions, please email Shelly or sign up for office hours below.
***Don't forget to update your Dashboard.
Your co-coach name and email, YPP for both coaches, and Consent and Release forms for all team members and coaches must be completed by your first competition.

Deep Dive with Chesapeake's

Head Judge

1. The Game Manual has Required and Encouraged criteria for each award which have changed from previous years.

2. There is no separate submission for the Control Award, the information must be within the Engineering portfolio.

3. Engineering portfolios must be submitted to Pit Admin by 7:40AM on the day of the event.

4. The team interview starts with up to 5 minutes of uninterrupted time for a presentation and a total time of 10 minutes with the judges.

5. Every team should try to attend the Judging Exposed and Explained Session to understand the judging process on October 3 at 8pm.

6. Judging is a great way to learn about what other teams are doing. Just remember you can't volunteer as a judge at the tournament your team is competing in. Sign up using your FIRST Dashboard.

Beneath the Surface with Chesapeake's Head Ref

NOTE: These are some notable changes in the new Competition Manual. However, there are

many new rules and rule changes. Some changes are substantial, others more subtle.

***Teams MUST become very familiar with the Competition Manual prior to designing their ROBOT and considering strategies.

Volunteer Expectations for Teams

All teams are expected to have one volunteer

at an event this season.

Volunteers can be parents, family, friends, mentors, or coaches. However, for sensitive positions like judge or referee, we ask that the affiliated volunteer give their time at an event that the team is not attending.

Most needed roles that work well for team affiliated volunteers:

Technical Roles
Control System Advisor Field Inspector
Robot Inspector (1/2 day and no previous experience needed)
Non-Technical Roles
Queuer
Pit Admin
Volunteer Check In
Scorekeeper
Field Resetter
AV person
Judge (only at events where your team IS NOT COMPETING)

Please direct your volunteer(s) to the FIRST Dashboard or our Volunteer Page to get signed up today!

Looking for Resources?

Chesapeake has compiled materials to help your team succeed this season.

Materials include:

Competition Packing List
Grant Template
Important Links Fundraising Tips

This is a public drive that you can access, download materials from, and/or make a copy and create your own assets. Materials are added weekly, so check back often!

Do you have some resources you would like added? Let Shelly know!

Public Resources

FIRST Inspires Resources

ftc.game - Links to the game and season info page

ftc.game/manual - Links to latest version of the Competition Manual

ftc.game/tu-00 - Links to the relevant team update

ftc.events - links to ftc-events.firstinspires.org which contains season results

Starter Bot Guides from various vendors

Team Outreach Toolkit

You are FIRST Chesapeake's best ambassadors!

To make outreach in your community easier, we have a toolkit of resources available for you.

Use these tools to:

Recruit volunteers
Connect local businesses
Secure funding and support
Identify mentors
Conduct outreach

Do you have a resource that might be useful to share? Send it to Shelly!

Team Outreach Toolkit

New Coach Chat Series with Chesapeake

New Coach Chats continue this October!

We are excited to have you be a part of our community and want you to have a great experience. October's session will be focused on managing the season ahead of your first competition.

Join October 16 at 7pm- New Coaches Chat Session

Coach Chats with Veteran Coach

Seelig Sinton

Looking to connect with other coaches, get questions answered, collaborate? Join Seelig each month between now and end of January to do just that. This is a great opportunity for coaches to connect and learn from each other. Topics will vary from month to month- Sundays at 8pm.

October 20: Join
November 17: Join
December 15: Join
January 12: Join

Ready to learn about the judging process?

Head Judge Pankaj Oberoi will be leading an exclusive and in depth look at the judging process this season.

Mark your calendar for October 3 at 8pm.

Invite your students and your families! This is an opportunity to learn how the process has changed this season and understand better how judging works behind the scenes.

The Judge Process Explained

FTC Dean's List

Dean's List Nominations are available!

All nominations must be completed no later than December 15, 2024. No late submissions will be considered. Please use this link to learn more about the process and the directions for making a submission.

Do you have a parent interested in doing online interviews of Dean's List Semi-finalists? If so, please email their contact information and interest to Lizzie.

Learn more about FTC Dean's List

Event Host Interest Form 2025-2026

Interested in hosting an event for the 25-26 season?

Use the link below to share your interest with Chesapeake as we begin planning for next year.

Benefits:

Less travel for your team
Preference when choosing qualifiers
Behind the scenes look at competition
Outreach opportunities for your team
Ensures that we have enough events for all teams to have 2 qualifiers

Share your interest in being a venue!

Maryland Space Business Roundtable STEM Educational Grants Day

https://mdspace.org/stem-education/

Submit your powerpoint presentation by October 14 to share your needs on grant day and have an opportunity receive funds to help your team.

Women in STEM Scholarships

Mark your Calendars! Open October 4th

Apply today!

Women in STEM HYPE Session with Booz Allen Hamilton

Led by:

Cassandra Rothrauff

Sr. Computer Engineer, Booz Allen Hamilton Software Robotics Coach & Mentor for middle and high school students on FIRST Robotics teams

When was the last time someone advocated for you?

When was the last time you wrote down your goals?

This workshop is designed to create a community of people that understand the importance of identifying and communicating their own strengths, and develop effective peer-to-peer sponsorship. Ultimately, this workshop will help participants to confidently define and share their personal brand, highlight the accomplishment of their peers, and leverage these strategies to host their own hype-circles at home. This is an interactive virtual session.

Join the HYPE at 7pm on October 4