Weekly update as of 11/2: QT Reg closed, bring roster to QT, reminder about rules, no optional judging items, help needed, and more

[Jill Wilker]

Coaches : 

8 items for you this past week (and a half):   QT Reg closed, bring roster to QT,  reminder about rules, optional judging items, help needed, and more 


1)  Every NorCal Qualifier Tournament (QT) is full and registration is completely closed.  There are a few teams that have told me that they are interested in an off-season spring "get together".  I would recommend posting on the social.norcalfll.org site if you are interested in this. Note that Playing At Learning does not have the resources to facilitate this - it would have to be organized and managed by those interested.

2)  Every team must bring a print out of the latest Team Roster and hand in at the tournament registration when arriving at the QT.  This is different than last year!    Also, any handwritten names on the roster should have a waiver form.   If you submitted the waiver ahead of time to Playing At Learning,  the tournament should be able to verify this. However, it would be safest for you to just bring a copy of the signed waiver with you.


3) IMPORTANT Reminder:  FLL Tournament Participation Rule to pay attention to:  If you are coaching more than 1 team attending the same qualifier,  each team must have 2 separate "supervising adults".    These supervising adults must attend the tournament but have no other responsibility except for being responsible for the safety and supervision of that 1 team.  The supervising adults do not have to be the listed coach(es) - if the supervising adults are not on the preprinted section of the Team Roster,  they do need to added by writing the name on the bottom portion of the team roster and submitting a signed waiver (to be turned in at the QT that you attend).   [Similar,  each team must provide a separate volunteer as well and they need to register in VIMS and apply for a general volunteer role]


4) NorCal FLL does not use the Core Values Poster nor the Robot design executive summary.  Creating these for the team's pleasure is your choice but the judges will not have time in either the Core Values nor the Robot Design sessions for the team to cover these.  We do expect to have a short teamwork activity as part of the Core Values judging - listen to the recording from the "Preparing for your Qualifier" webinar if you are not familiar with all of this.


5) Help REALLY  REALLY needed in preparing for the FLL Championship events.  If you can help with preparations for at least one of the 3  District Championships, please let me know.   The effort estimate ranges from just a few hours total to a few hours a week- all that can be done remotely.  Hoping to get a couple of these championship tournaments confirmed this next week or so... once we have dates and locations confirmed, we will let you know too.   


6) The QT directors have their team lists - I reminded them about sending out a welcome message.  Name changes are very problematic at this point.  Tournament directors have started printing materials - so time to change the team name is really past!   Many tournaments also still need additional volunteers - Ask your tournament director if you can help recruit additional volunteers.


7) I will announce in a few days the exact advancing percentage and the performance "hurdle" that must be achieved in order to advance.  I have a query on this out to FIRST HQ that I am hoping will get answered quickly so that I can publish this in the coming few days.   If you are not familiar with how advancement works,  this article should help.


8) We were recently told that our long time championship lead sponsor may not be supporting local NorCal events any longer  (instead focusing on national/FIRST HQ funding).   If you can help with putting in a donation request at your company or know of additional sources of funds, please let me know.   IF we are not able to raise donations to offset this loss, the championship tournament registration fee could increase by as much as $50 a team  (from $175 to as much as $225).  




Finally, if you don't see the links embedded in items #3, 4, 5 and 7, you should visit the group's home page at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/norcalfll-announce  to get the links.



Regards, 
     Jill  





Jill Wilker,  Playing At Learning, an educational 501(c)(3) nonprofit   
Northern California partner for FIRST® LEGO® League and FIRST® Tech Challenge  and Jr. FIRST® LEGO® League 
www.norcalfll.org     www.norcalftc.org    www.norcaljrfll.org   (510)  656-8664       www.playingatlearning.org

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