FTCNJ Tuesday Newsday - July 12 2022 ... (Sent via Google Group)
Vince Frascella
Greetings Newsletter Subscribers and FTCNJ Coaches
This notification email (containing a bit of news) is being sent to everyone on the existing Newsletter Distribution list.
As always, you can very easily opt-out from receiving it. (See that process at the bottom of this email.)
Or, if you wish to suspend distribution during the off-season, simply send that note to this address and we’ll omit you until September.
Otherwise, the newsletter will coming out on Tuesdays (typically)
Remember that the updates are shown in blue bold text.
If you are a weekly reader, you can just quickly scan the BLUE to see what is NEW.
The black text is included for completeness sake and for our new readers.
If you have any questions about you are reading, below, just drop us a line. Glad to explain.
Headlines:
Outreach Scrimmages
What if … Ducks were not standing at attention prior to end game, but needed to passed to the human player stationed near the Carousel?
What if … Tournament Bots had to depend on their Rookie Jersey-bot partner to pass them the more useful weighted freight boxes to help tip the Shared Shipping Hub?
What if … During End Game, the Rookie Jersey-bot partner could pass “Doubling Ducks” to its alliance partner to ratchet-up the scoring?
These are just some of the twists that our Outreach participants will face when playing “Extreme Freight Frenzy” on the 12x16 field.
Looking forward to a fun and very helpful event of our new team members, prospects …and our helpful veteran teams. See more below!
Control Hub – Supply Chain Challenge
We are aware of the FIRST notification regarding the difficulty in obtaining Control Hubs for the coming season.
This will particularly affect our rookies. Veteran teams should already have Control Hubs, and/or Expansion Hubs, and perhaps spares.
FIRST has issued a call for veteran teams to graciously “share a spare” and advise their PDP (i.e., FTCNJ) if they are able to loan their spare.
Beyond that FTCNJ is creating a plan to create a pool of spare Expansion Hubs that can be loaned to a rookie, or a Donor/Loaner veteran team overnight, in a pinch.
In addition to the Gracious Professional aspect of “sharing a spare”, FTCNJ is considering a discount on the season fee for our accepted Donor/Loaner veteran teams.
We will be watching the supply chain situation closely and constructing a Donor/Loaner List of interested teams. More details to come in next week’s Newsletter.
Quick Links:
Volunteers – Tech Crew Initiative
Competition News – Event Site Updates
OFF-SEASON ACTIVITIES
In-Person Workshops
Kean University has confirmed that FTCNJ may hold the Workshop there again this year … on August 20th.
The date of the second In-Person Workshop has been set to September 24th. The location is TBD.
Pre-registration Information has been sent to all Coaches (of record) of the Freight Frenzy (last) season.
Collecting responses on Aug 20th and Sept 24th interest.
If you are a FTCNJ coach who has not yet responded, please do so soon, or reach out to us asap.
The Workshop has 6-8 Tracks and the Sign-Up Registration Form is being sent during the coming week!
Remote Workshops
It has been decided to conduct these remote offerings in Sept/Oct when more teams have organized and more members are available.
This approach will help us to focus on the July Outreaches and August In-Person Workshops now.
FTCNJ-Driven Outreach Scrimmages
Here are the dates/locations of the three Outreaches. You can see the Host Teams.
Shown are the Veteran Teams who have expressed interest in lending a hand. We need 4-5 teams per event, including the host teams.
More solicitations are pending. Can your team lend a hand, or equally important bring new people to the FTC Outreach?
There is still time, especially for the July 23rd/July 24th Outreach Scrimmages. Please reach out to us, if interested.
§ Central NJ Outreach (Sunday, 7/17)
§ Highland Park (Home of the Host: Highland Park Owls)
§ Veteran Teams: Tech-Tonic, Dynabytes, Don’t Blink, Simply Complex, Blue Steel, Transistors, Short Circuits
§ Northern NJ Outreach (Saturday, 7/23)
§ Randolph (Home of Host: Cruise Control)
§ Veteran Teams: Those Guys, Fatal Error, Reboot
§ Southern NJ Outreach (Sunday, 7/24)
§ Egg Harbor Township (Home of the Host: Enforcers/Re-Enforcers)
§ Veteran Teams: RoboTech Anomaly, WAGS …plus C3 Loco-Motors, WDHS-EaglesT1
We are interested in other “leads”. Is your team involved in helping a new team start? Starting a sister team?
These Outreaches orient new folks to FTC … AND provide some game play experience via tailored “Freight Frenzy”
Here’s an overview:
· At the start of the day, there is a brief FTC Orientation, then veteran teams explain last year’s game their robot.
· Having 1-2 of veteran team members describe their robot and their thought/design process is very helpful to the new folks.
· Then, we announce a modified version of the Freight Frenzy Game and partner new folks with veteran teams.
· Veteran teams drive their robot while new folks (their alliance partner for the day) drive a loaned jersey-bot from FTCNJ.
· Veterans help the new folks modify the jersey-bot (to add a plow, for instance).
· In the modified game, jersey-bots pass the game pieces to the veteran bot partner. They are an alliance for the day.
· This gives new folks a great learning experience and a chance to compete … and decide if they want to form at team…
VOLUNTEERS – Tech Crew Initiative
Thanks to the 12 people who registered/attended the July 12th session on becoming a Tech Crew Volunteer.
Special thanks to Chris Kunkel and John McDonnell for hosting the session, providing much useful information, and answering questions.
If you could not make it but are a supportive Coaches interested in learning more about FTA and FTAA volunteering, please let us know.
Our growing Program can surely use the help!
COMPETITION NEWS
Season Plan – Updated Conferences
Once again there will be 4 Leagues in FTCNJ with each comprised of 2 Conferences of 20-25 teams, organized by county.
The updated Conference/League structure takes into account travel time and should really improve that situation for many.
Remember, all teams in a League may compete at any Meet within that League, regardless of Conference.
Only in February’s League Tournaments must teams play only at their Conferences season-ending tournament.
FTC NJ League / Conference Structure ß Attached is a map of NJ that shows the Leagues, Conferences, and Team Counts from last Season.
North East Edge League
· North East Conference: Hudson, Union, North Essex (Caldwell, Livingston, Montclair, Nutley)
· South Essex Conference: Bloomfield, Maplewood, Newark, South Orange, West Orange)
Northern League
· Far North Conference: Warren, Sussex, Passaic, West Bergen (Glen Rock, Ramsey, Ridgewood, Saddle River, Township of Washington)
· East Bergen Conference: (Cliffside Park, Cresskill, Demarest, East Rutherford, Emerson, Englewood, Hackensack, Lodi, Oradell, Paramus, Park Ridge, Rutherford, Tenafly)
Upper Central League
· Central Conference: Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex
· Morris County Conference: Morris (All)
Southern League
· Upper South Conference: Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean
· Deep South Conference: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Gloucester, Cumberland, Salem
POWERPLAY Season Team Registration OPEN
19 of the 27 are fully registered; while nine rookies are pending.
18 of the 19 are returning teams … and 1 fully registered rookie.
As of this moment, 148 FTCNJ Teams have registered or confirmed their intent to do so for the upcoming season.
We are climbing toward our 200 team goal.
Livingston High School has confirmed as the site for the in-person Northern NJ Kick-Off event on September 10th !
Per usual, the morning will include a helpful FTCNJ Orientation Program, as well as a number of breakout sessions.
The Game Reveal will be at noon, followed by Q&A, and a chance to view the physical field (and receive game element construction tips.)
A Southern NJ Kick-Off is also being planned. Our Southern host is in the final stages of sign-off by their administration.
State Championship – March 12, 2023
The FTC New Jersey State Championship will be held on Sunday, March 12th
In-Person Judging is anticipated at the State Championship, as well as at League Tournaments.
It is also our goal to have “Practice Judging” at four of the Period #3 Meets; one for each League.
League Tournaments ß No Change
All eight of the Conference/League Tournaments will take place in February 2023.
· Sunday, Feb 5th is the Northeast Conference League Tournament is at Bayonne HS
· Saturday, Feb 11th is the new proposed date for the Far North Conference League Tournament at Glen Rock HS. Awaiting confirmation.
· Saturday, Feb 18th is nearing approval for the South Essex Conference League Tournament at Payne Tech, Newark. Awaiting final confirmation.
· Sunday, Feb 25th is confirmed for the Deep South Conference League Tournament at North Burlington Middle School.
· Sunday, Feb 26th is now confirmed for the East Bergen Conference League Tournament at Emerson Jr. Sr. High School.
· Other tournaments are pending.
Meet Sites ß Updates in Blue!
Don Bosco Prep HS is site of a Northern League Meet on Saturday, November 5th.
Westfield High School has confirmed as site of Northeast Edge League Meet on Saturday, November 13th.
Clearview Regional Middle School has confirmed as site of Southern League Meet on Saturday, December 17th.
Liberty Science Center is site of a Northern League Meet on Saturday, January 7th. Jdroids are once again the Team Host.
Pingry School has confirmed as site of an Upper Central League Meet on Sunday, January 8th.
EHT PAL has confirmed as site of a Southern League Meet on Sunday, January 15th.
Chatham High School has confirmed as site of Upper Central League Meet on Saturday, January 21st
Blair Academy has confirmed as site of a Northern League Meet on Sunday, January 22nd.
FTCNJ is again planning six Meet choices per League (3 Saturdays, 3 Sunday). Teams can pick three plus apply for bonus Meets.
Event registration opens on the Monday after Kick Off (e.g., Sept 12th at Noon)
FTCNJ News
STEM GIRLS: Tech Talks
No additional Tech Talks are planned for during the off-season, however topic ideas are very much welcome.
We look forward to Tech Talks resuming in the Fall, as well as other remote training sessions.
For any girls interested, it’s never too late to join the STEM Girls community!
Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfca5j11yjtAW6OJmRzbbwKyrSOrt8a5tty9SojZkwYLJLvCw/viewform
Members Seeking Team
FTCNJ has been contacted by the coach of a Bridgewater FLL Team. ß Last Call! Can You Help?
The coach reports that a few of their members are aging out of FLL and would like to join an FTC team.
Are there any teams out there in the Bridgewater area that are interested and able to take on such new members?
FLL experience is always a nice plus when bringing on new people.
If your team can help, please respond back to vfras...@aol.com
Our next newsletter will be on July 19th.
If you have any questions, comments, or needs as you read this newsletter, simply write back and we’ll be happy to assist.
Making that comment here, rather than embedding it throughout the long newsletter above.
Thanks again for the interest in FIRST Tech Challenge New Jersey and being part of our community
Thanks much, Vince Frascella
FIRST Tech Challenge New Jersey