Hi Pennsylvania FTC PA Teams and Volunteers,
Since our last email on the subject, we are happy to announce that we are now at 125 FIRST FTC Registered and paid teams in PA! Again, this is beyond our expectations and we are extremely impressed with the energy and passion for the program, especially for those veteran teams that have worked through outreach to promote the program and expand our Rookie team base to 24 new teams. Thank you all for your support and dedication.
This is a reminder that this week we will hold the second Remote Scrimmage week for the teams that are eligible (FIRST FTC screened and paid). Remember that teams that meet this criterion are automatically pre-registration and are eligible to participate in the PA FTC Scrimmages. There are three remaining this year:
- Remote Scrimmage #2 – Tue Nov 16, 2021 – Sun Nov 21, 2021
- Remote Scrimmage #3 – Tue Nov 30, 2021 – Sun Dec 5, 2021
- Remote Scrimmage #4 – Tue Dec 14, 2021 – Sun Dec 19, 2021
We will be holding an Opening Ceremonies / Kickoff tomorrow evening, Tuesday November 16th at 7:30 PM. This meeting is to specifically address any Scrimmage questions you may and a Remote Scoring System overview, especially for those that have not experienced this App. We will have a similar meeting each Tuesday evening prior to the week-long scrimmage opportunities. For detailed information regarding Remote Scrimmages as well as a link to the Scoring System please go to our website:
https://www.ftcpenn.org/ftc-events/2021-2022-season/remote-scrimmage-2
As stated before, you may not feel that your team is ready for any competitions at this time but if you can play the Freight Frenzy Challenge, no matter how crude or sophisticated then this is your opportunity. Remember that Scrimmages do not count towards advancement in any way, shape or form; they are really formal practice sessions where your team can learn, use the scoring system and share results. Please feel free to join and enjoy whenever you can between now and the 4th scrimmage in mid-December.
Team Registrations:
Please be sure to register your team for Qualifiers ASAP. As of this writing we have 125 FTC Teams registered with FIRST and cleared to compete in Pennsylvania, however there are just under 80 who have registered for Qualifiers and/or the Remote League. All that have registered earlier have received their P1 requests and are on Waitlists for their other selected events. There are at least five but mostly 8 or more slots still open for a Priority 1 selection in all of the scheduled events for those teams who have not yet registered, so it is time for those remaining teams to make their selections. Our Tournament season is approaching very fast!
There are currently 26 open P1 Registration slots for the Keystone League Meet #1 on January 11th and 15 open, P1 Registration slots for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Qualifier on January 15th, 2022. Per our procedure for processing registration requests, any open slots are offered to teams on Waitlists starting 6 weeks before the Qualifier date. The Priority 1 List is processed first, then the Priority 2 Waitlist, and so on until all slots at the event are filled. So, REMINDER that the clock starts for offering open slots to teams that are on the Waitlists for these specific events starting on Tuesday, Nov 30th for the Keystone League and Saturday, Dec 4th for the Southwestern Qualifier.
Again, we strongly encourage teams to commit and register for these and other events as soon as possible (in the next week or so) so as to not miss open windows for your preferred events. It is also a good time for teams that have already registered to review your selections in context to your team’s readiness and assess whether priority updates are in order. Please check out all of the individual event Registration status’ as well as the Registration and Waitlist Summary page for guidance and decision making:
https://www.ftcpenn.org/ftc-events/2021-2022-season
https://www.ftcpenn.org/registration-and-waitlist-summary
Please let us know if you have any questions.
Best Regards,
Tom Zawislak and Dave Hackett
Pennsylvania FIRST® Robotics
FIRST Tech Challenge® Program Delivery Partner
phone: (302) 383-9925
email: ftc@pennfirst.org
Website: www.FTCPenn.org