Tuesday Newsday - February 8 ... (Sent via Google Group)
Vince Frascella
Greetings Newsletter Subscribers and FTCNJ Coaches
Here is our weekly update on our “Freight Frenzy” Season.
New information is shown in blue text. Hot items in Highlight!
Welcome to all of our new coaches/subscribers.
If you have any questions about you are reading, below, just drop us a line. Glad to explain.
HEADLINES:
· Dean’s List
Interviews are well underway. To date, 38 of our fine 71 Semi-Finalist students have been interviewed.
· First League Tournaments (In-Person)
o Timothy Christian School was site of the first in-person League Tournament in 2 years!
§ Timothy Tigers and Watt NXT co-hosted the “Upper South Conference” / Southern League Tournament.
§ Congratulations to Winning Alliance Captain #11697 (Tech-TONIC) and their partners Team #19735 (HRNT) and #5398 (Robotux).
§ These are the first three teams advancing to States (March 6th)
o Bayonne High School and their three-team Program, hosted the “Northeast Conference” / NE Edge League Tournament.
§ Congratulations to the Winning Alliance Team #4890 (Hive Voltage 2.0) and Team #17670 (Raider Robotics)
§ Those two teams, along with Finalist Alliance Captain Team #3774 (Hive Voltage) are advancing to States.
ON THE HORIZON:
February 7th – February 9th
o Remote Judging for the Upper South Conference and Northeast Conference wraps up on Wednesday evening.
§ As a result of the League Tournaments’ Remote Judging, 6 more teams will advance to States.
§ Three of the six teams will be advanced from the Feb 5th field of teams and three more from the Feb 6th teams.
· Those advancements to the FTCNJ State Championship to be announced on Weds Night (Feb 9th)
Sunday, February 13th
o Hightstown High School will be the site of the “Central Conference” / Central-West League Tournament.
§ The Remote Judging associated with this event will take place from Feb 14th – Feb 16th .
§ Time to identify additional teams to advance to States.
Quick Links:
REGISTRATION STATUS
Team Status
Our final count will be 179 FIRST Tech Challenge New Jersey teams that have registered with FIRST. Welcome to 21 new teams this season.
o Northern League (40 Teams), Northeast Edge League (47 Teams), Central West League (45 Teams), Southern League (47 Teams)
COMMUNICATIONS CAUCUSES
Coaches Caucus
In light of League Tournaments, Remote Judging and Dean’s List activities, FTCNJ is postponing our February Coaches Caucus.
Our next Coaches Caucus will be the first Friday in March, rather than Feb 4th
Captains Caucus … (February 25th)
At this monthly student-led Zoom, student Team Leaders meet to share best practices.
The next Captains Caucus is 8pm (Friday, 02/25)
DEAN’S LIST
Dean’s List Overview
In an effort to recognize the leadership and dedication of FIRST’s most outstanding secondary school students, the Kamen family sponsors an award
for selected 10th and 11th grade students known as the FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge Dean’s List. Prestigious colleges have
expressed great interest in meeting Dean’s List’s Award winners .We are proud to report that 71 students have been nominated by their teams/coaches
as “Dean’s List Semi-Finalists”. Congratulations to all.
REMOTE JUDGING
League Tournament Judging (Remote)
The diagram below shows the schedule. The timing aligns closely to that experienced at January’s Practice Judging events.
Note – While two Conferences undergo Remote Judging within the same period, the Judging Panels, Deliberations, and sets of Awards are totally separate!
COMPETITION NEWS
Google Group Queuing
More and more of our venues are utilizing Google Group to assist with Queuing and to send other important event messages to teams.
Look for the QR code that is pre-printed on your Team’s Pit Sign or ask the host about it. Use your smart phone and stay well informed!
Meet Results
While we are not having formal Closing Ceremonies at our Meets, a summary of results is available shortly after event completion.
Anyone can go to FTC Event Web : Home (firstinspires.org) to see as all event results from all regions.
Worlds Allocations for FTCNJ
FIRST has just advised us that New Jersey’s FTC region will receive three advancements to the FTC World Championship.
State Championship – Sunday, March 6th
The FTC New Jersey State Championship will be held at Morris Knolls High School, one week after our final League Tournament.
League Tournaments
Northern League
This is a season of challenges; two challenges faced the Northern League.
One, as mentioned previously, the (~12) Newark Teams are unable to compete. This severely impacted the South Essex Conference event.
Two, the planned venue of the February 20th Far North Conference event can no longer host it.
The solution is the merger of the Far North and South Essex Conference events into a single league tournament.
On Sunday, February 20th, Payne Tech will host the Combined-Conference, Northern League Tournament.
Late-Season Meets (7) – completed as of January 30th (to weather)
Mid-Season Meets (8) – in November / December have completed, as of December 19th
Early-Season/Holiday Meets have completed, as of November 28th
FTCNJ STEM Girls
STEM GIRLS: Tech Talk - “Active Intakes Explored” ß Accomplished January 31st
The STEM Girls “Empowered Team” hosted a Tech Talk called “Active Intakes Explored” on Monday, January 31st.
Durometer, wheels, tubing, entrapment stars, best practices, and much more were covered.
The slides and recording of the event to be made available to attendees and others, upon request, next week.
For any girls interested, it’s not too late to join the STEM Girls community!
Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfca5j11yjtAW6OJmRzbbwKyrSOrt8a5tty9SojZkwYLJLvCw/viewform
Hopefully, this Communique has provided a lot of good information regarding the coming season. (New in blue! Hot in Yellow Highlight!)
Our next newsletter will be on February 15th
If you have any questions, comments, or needs as you read this newsletter, simply write back and I’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