Good morning FTC Teams, current and past Volunteers!
This is the fourteenth in the continuing series of Pennsylvania FIRST Robotics emails. Previous emails can be found on our website in the COMMUNICATION Archives.
https://www.ftcpenn.org/communications
Coaches, please liberally share this email with other coaches and parents.
Reminder: Coaches Call #8, the last of 2024 is tonight, Wed Dec 18, 2024 at
7:30 pm. Please attend via GoTo web conference:
Use the web conferencing link above (preferred) or dial in:
https://meet.goto.com/639934445
(571) 317-3122
Access Code: 639-934-445
Since opening up Qualifier Registration on Oct. 1st, we had an immediate rush and flurry of applicants. As of today, of the 155 registered FTC teams in PA, 137 have registered for and have been confirmed for their P1 or first choice as well as additional qualifiers they were invited to from the respective Waitlists.
Last weekend, we completed our first two qualifiers at York Country Day School, the South Central and Greyhound Sprint Qualifiers. They were well attended and very competitive. Thanks again to the school and FTC Teams 9242 GearHounds and 21324 Hackin Hounds for hosting. Results are posted on each respective PA website. Both events were Livestreamed so you can check out the recordings and re-live match play or check out your future partners/competition. See the Livestream link recording embedded in the following webpages.
https://www.ftcpenn.org/ftc-events/2024-2025-season/south-central-pennsylvania-qualifier
https://www.ftcpenn.org/ftc-events/2024-2025-season/greyhound-sprint-qualifier
Congratulations to the four teams Advancing to the PA Championship March 8th and 9th at Bellefonte High School, Bellefonte, PA.
South Central:
- 20153 Silver Wolves Kennett Square, PA – Inspire Award 1st Place
- 9791 Divide by Zero Lansdale, PA – Winning Alliance Partner
Greyhound Sprint:
- 18603 TeraBridges Pittsburgh, PA – Inspire Award 1st Place
- 7244 OUT of the BOX Robotics Thorndale, PA – Winning Alliance Captain
FTC Championship, Houston, TX – Allocation for PA. Of the 8,010 FTC FIRST Tech Challenge teams representing 91 regions around the world, PA has been allocated four (4) of the 254 slots. This is the same allocation as the last two seasons.
2025 Qualifiers:
As of yesterday, all slots for the next two qualifiers have been filled thanks to the rapid and efficient responses from the teams that were invited from the respective Waitlists. Thank you, teams! Please let us know ASAP if here is any change to your team status or you cannot attend as we have plenty of anxious teams remaining on both Waitlists. Please see links to view the competing teams:
https://www.ftcpenn.org/ftc-events/2024-2025-season/lancaster-area-qualifier
https://www.ftcpenn.org/ftc-events/2024-2025-season/blue-streak-qualifier
Going forward, we will be inviting teams to the remaining qualifiers based on the following Waitlist Invitation schedule.
Be sure to review the Waitlist status for your additional choices (P2 – P6) to assure they are appropriate. If you want to make changes based on your assessment of your team’s Waitlist status you may do so by Updating in our Event Registration page.
Schedule: https://www.ftcpenn.org/event-registration/waitlist-invitations
Registration: https://www.ftcpenn.org/event-registration
Call for Volunteers
As was communicated in Season Blast #12 and 13, The success of PA FTC events is totally dependent on the number and quality of volunteers that give of their time and energy at our events.
We seek out and have a great need for Volunteers for all of our FTC PA events for the 2024-2025 Into the Deep! season. We are therefore reaching out to recruit those that have volunteered in the past, or want to join the incredible Pennsylvania FIRST Robotics volunteer team!
If you have already volunteered, thank you. If you have not, please do consider it.
This is a great opportunity for coaches, mentors and parents to get an insider’s perspective of how FTC events are conducted in our State and region. The perspectives and guidance gained will also translate into helping your own team and students to be successful. If you are already registered to volunteer then thank you!
Volunteer roles are defined in the link provided below. We welcome volunteers in all capacities, but especially in key roles such as Judging, Referees and Inspectors.
For guidance on volunteering at a PA FTC Event please go to the following link or see instructions below. https://www.ftcpenn.org/volunteer
General Instructions:
We use the FIRST Event Volunteer Registration system for all of our events. Volunteering for an event is one of the options on your personal FIRST Dashboard on the http://www.firstinspires.org website
To access the FIRST Event Volunteer Registration system:
Browse to the link above, click LOG IN in the upper right-hand corner. If you already have a FIRST account, enter your FIRST username and password, and click LOG IN.
If you do not have a FIRST account, click Register in the upper right-hand corner, then fill out the account form.
Once on your personal Dashboard, select Volunteer Registration and then Event Volunteering.
To narrow the available events to Pennsylvania FTC events, under Event Filters select FTC, United States, Pennsylvania; optionally enter dates and/or event name information, and then click Apply Filters. Select an event on the right-hand side (Southwestern Pennsylvania Qualifier) and click Volunteer. Follow the prompts to select the roles you are interested in.
https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/volunteer/general-volunteer-resources
Thanks to you all for your consideration and let us know if you have any questions. We are so excited for his season and to see all of our teams and friends once again.
All the best,
Tom Zawislak, Dave Hackett and Lena Kang – Volunteer Administrator
Pennsylvania FIRST® Robotics
FIRST Tech Challenge® Program Delivery Partner
phone: (302) 383-9925
email: ftc@pennfirst.org
Website: www.FTCPenn.org