It's that time of year again and San Diego FTC 22/23 Season is about to get underway!
Our first meets for the 22/23 season will be on Nov 19th and 20th so there is still plenty of time to get you in the system and helping out! We need help in all positions from Referee to Check-in support. If you have a few hours to give we can find a position that best fits your schedule and desire.
Referees and Scorekeepers are especially needed from non-team affiliated Volunteers!
If you are already a volunteer in the FIRSTinspires.org system, you can volunteer for a meet #1 event at these links. If you are not registered with FIRSTinspires.org yet, you will be prompted to register first.
And if all that sounds like too much just email me (Victor@rise4steam.org) and say “Hi Vic, I want to help” I will be more than happy to get you in the right direction.
Any way you do it, the end result is the same. You get to help some amazing kids!
I look forward to seeing on the field,
Victor Ciccarelli
SD SDFTC Admin / Instructor San Diego RISE / Volunteer Coordinator
AND on Saturday November 12th From 9:00am to 12:00noon we will be hosting an open volunteer recruitment event at the HUB. This event will be an opportunity for anyone who is thinking about being part of this season to come out, meet the team, watch the game being played and explore the volunteer opportunities. Please help us get the word out about this event and invite your colleagues, parents and friends and ask them to do the same!
Even if you can't make this event, your help volunteering is appreciated!
We are excited to see you soon at our first league meet! Below is an overview of the tournament structure we will be using this year. Please see the official game manuals for the full details about the league format referenced below.
Here are a couple important items for you to be aware of for our region:
Teams must provide a minimum of ONE (2 preferred!) volunteer at each event they participate in (exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis – email Victor Ciccarelli @ victor@rise4steam.org ). Information on how to volunteer for your events will be sent from your tournament / site hosts and/or volunteer coordinator Victor.
SDFTC uses the league format for our tournaments which looks like this:
Teams compete 4 weekends, once each in November, December, January, and February.
Weekends 1-3 are called league “meets.” During these meets teams will compete with a random alliance partner within their same league in qualifier matches against an alliance of two other randomly allied teams. Each team will accumulate scores which determine a team’s rank within their league. Please see the official FIRST game manuals for how these scores and rankings are determined. There is no judging during these first 3 weekends and no official elimination rounds.
Weekend #4 is called a league “tournament” and teams will be competing in additional qualifying matches during the tournament. The results of these qualifying matches will be used along with the team’s top 10 scores from weekends 1-3 to determine their ranking at the end of the league tournament qualifying rounds. The team’s total ranking at the end of these qualifying rounds will be used as the rankings for alliance selection at the league tournaments.
9 teams from each league will advance to the Regional tournament held in March based on the advancement criteria in the game manuals.
League assignments can be viewed below and on the webpage.
Some common questions:
Q: What if we are not ready for the first meet?
A: Ask for help! We have experts and parts at The Hub. We also have plenty of experienced teams willing to help between now and then. Teams have shown up to their first tournament with a half-built robot in the past, got help to pull it together, learned a ton, and had fun.
Q: What happens if our team misses a meet?
A: A team who misses a meet will be given zero scores for that meet which will naturally be the lowest that they would have accumulated during their first 3 weekends and subsequently dropped. But teams are highly encouraged to compete regardless of the status of their robot. The randomness of the meets minimizes any concerns teams should have about not being a good partner. Out of region teams are required to compete in all 3 league meets.
Q: Can we change leagues mid-season?
A: No, this is not possible in the league format.
Q: Will SDFTC be returning the end of meet “fun” optional elimination competitions that they use to hold for weeks 1-3?
A: Yes! SDFTC is working on a new way to offer these for this year. How these will work will be announced at a later time.
Go teams!
Questions? Just ask! Send an email to Victor@rise4steam.org for most questions or our Program Delivery Partners at sandiegoftc@gmail.com!
