FTCNJ (Almost) Tuesday Newsday - November 23 2022 ... (Sent via Google Group)
Vince Frascella
Greetings Newsletter Subscribers and FTCNJ Coaches
This email 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.)
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.
HEADLINES:
Upcoming Zoom Caucuses – Coaches on December 2nd.
Dean’s List – Remote Interviews Planned
STEM Girls Tech-Talk-Topic Survey
Quick Links:
LEAGUES, CONFERENCES and TEAMS
FIRST NEWS
FTCNJ News
LEAGUES, CONFERENCES & TEAMS
Season Plan – Conferences
There 4 Leagues in FTCNJ with each comprised of 2 Conferences of 20-25 teams, organized by county. (Shown on attachment)
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 Conference’s season-ending tournament.
“Team (Pin) Map”
FTCNJ continues to update the Team Map on the website. Team Map - FIRST Tech Challenge - New Jersey (newjerseyftc.com)
It can now be used to view “who are the other teams in my League”!
POWERPLAY Season Team Registration
173 of the 177 have registered; 4 potential Rookie Registrations are pending.
157 of the 173 are returning teams … and 16 registered rookies.
WELCOME Rookie Teams!
· A big WELCOME to our 16 brand new teams, below.
o 22822 (Yellow Jackets) - Hackensack
o 22810 (Pequaautobots) – Pompton Plains
o 22704 (Robo-Redwings) - Hoboken
o 22504 (STEM Robotics) – South Orange
o 22348 (Minds of Steel) - Robbinsville
o 22261 (Hornet Blue) - Holmdel
o 22219 (MORT JR) – Budd Lake
o 22062 (Cyber-Tigers) - Tenafly
o 22050 (Pirate Robotics) – Egg Harbor City
o 21995 (Aquinas Trojans) - Edison
o 21807 (Incinerators) – Edison
o 21767 (Quadra) - Edison
o 21630 (Argonauts) - Somerset
o 21505 (HHS Robotics FTC Raiders) - Hillsborough
o 21480 (C3 Loco-Motors) - Elmer
o 21226 (RoboRaiders) - Hillsborough
COMPETITION NEWS
Northern League Meet at Brand New Host – November 19th at Ridgewood High School
Great job by John Wohner and the Wood-Chips in hosting their first Meet!
The facility was a very comfortable size for this one-field event. Nice work on the signage!
Team #10603’s inaugural event went off without a hitch. At day’s end, here are League standings:
Northern League Rankings….
#1-11456 (Blair Academy)
#2-247 (Reboot)
#3-7026 (Jdroids)
#4-248 (Fatal Error)
#5-13103(Ironmen Omega)
Krypton Warriors and Those Guys Co-Host – November 20th Upper-Central League AM/PM Meet.
After an exhaustive search, the co-hosts were able to secure Dickerson School as the Meet site.
This AM/PM Meet had 10 morning teams and 8 afternoon teams. It was a pleasant small event.
The Middle School gym was a bit small but everyone cooperated and had a great time.
Special thanks to TECH-tonic who added a few additional volunteers to the co-hosts’ staffing.
After teams played five Matches each, here are the League standings:
Upper-Central League Rankings….
#1-11697 (TECH-tonic)
#2-12116 (Redbots)
#3-21226 (RoboRaiders)
#3-10788 (Mountain Lakes Robotics)
#5-9853 (Chatham Cougars)
Coming Up (Residual Period #1 Meets on Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend) …
On Saturday, November 26th, Cruise Control is once again hosting an AM/PM Meet at their Grace Church facility.
Team #9889 hosted one of our very few AM/PM Meets last season and helped refine the practice.
Good luck to the 12 AM teams and 10-12 PM teams competing at the Randolph site.
On Sunday, November 27th, The Transisters will host the first AM/PM Meet at their Farmingdale Facility.
Team #6934 has hosted quite a few full-day scrimmages at the Girls Scouts of the Jersey Shore Program Activity Center.
The largest competition to date has been 16 teams; employing the AM/PM approach, Transisters will host 21 teams on Sunday!
Period #2
For Period #2, FTCNJ is reverting to 5 Matches per Team at each Meet.
Below, you will see the updated Spectator Policy … and below that, the Added Period #3 Features are again shown.
Go Teams!
Spectator Policy (Period #2)
Recall that last season, as FTCNJ returned to in-person competitions, spectators were not allowed.
This season, we will continue to livestream the competitions but do want to begin allowing spectators.
In Period #1, teams were allowed spectators based on team member count … one spectator per team member, generally speaking.
For Period #2, the spectator cap has been removed for large gym venues.
FTCNJ is asking for no more than 10 spectators per team when Meets are held in cafeterias or small gyms.
Venue sizes vary, of course. If a team has any question or is anticipating many spectators, contact FTCNJ for discussion and resolution.
Period #3 (January) Added Optional Features
· Teams participating in Saturday Meets in January may partake of optional in-person “Practice Judging”.
o While it does not affect advancement or earn a trophy, the face/face judge interview is very good practice for the February events.
· Teams participating in Sunday Meets in January may partake in optional “Elimination Matches”.
o Again, this added feature does not affect advancement but does provide teams with experience in Alliance Selection ….
· In both cases, the added features are strictly optional.
o Teams can opt out of the judge interview on January Saturdays, or depart prior to Alliance Selection on January Sundays.
· FTCNJ has been communicating with the venues (regarding judging rooms) and with volunteers.
o We thank all for helping us to organize and offer these added features in the January events.
Meet Registration
Meet Registration
AT THIS POINT, your team should really have submitted the Meet Requests including any Bonus Event requests.
If you are a coach who has not submitted the request yet, please do it now …or let FTCNJ know the nature of your problem.
If you are a new coach and need help, reach out. We are happy to provide any needed explanation of the system.
Here is the Registration link that coaches can use. : Event Registration and Acceptance Criteria - FIRST Tech Challenge - New Jersey (newjerseyftc.com)
FIRST NEWS
World Championship Allocations
In case you have not heard, New Jersey has been allocated three advancements to the World Championships in April (Houston)
FIRST TECH CHALLENGE New Jersey News
Dean’s List Plans
Similar to last season, Dean’s List interviews will be performed remotely again this year.
A Dean’s List “remote event” will be officially added to our schedule soon. It will be scheduled in the month of February.
That means Coaches need to submit their DL Nominations by the 15th day of the preceding month (i.e., January 15th).
The Remote Interviews, themselves, will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings during the first 3 weeks of February.
Depending on the number of nominations, interviews will extend to the 4th week in February, or will include Thursday nights.
FTCNJ will once again hold Orientation Sessions for Coaches (on Nomination Writing) and for Dean’s List Interview volunteers.
More to come, but coaches should be reviewing the material provided by FIRST and start considering candidates now.
STEM Girls Tech-Talk Survey
Our STEM Girls EMPOWER Team is once again planning their high-quality Tech Talks.
For the past 2 years, the Tech-Talks have been “virtual” as a result of the pandemic. This year, the in-person Tech-Talks return.
The season will include a combination of short lunchtime Tech-Talks at competitions and a few full-sized Tech Talks via Zoom.
Please help the STEM Girls planning efforts by answering the questions on this survey. https://forms.gle/FnbHYCc95toj69AU8
They are interested in gathering input from coaches, mentors, team members, and other interested parties. You!
The help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Tips from FTCNJ Head Refs
Here are two game strategy tips infused with corresponding self-inspection tasks that we’d like to share with teams.
1. Boost your TieBreaker Points 1 by designing and printing your own Sleeve to go over the Signal. This enables you to try to score the 20-Point Signal Bonus.
IMPORTANT: Handwriting or other changes on the Sleeve after it is printed makes it ineligible for the Signal Bonus.
2. Increase your TieBreaker Points 2 by designing a Beacon (that a Team’s Human Player introduces during End Game). This enables you to try to own a Junction by capping it.
IMPORTANT: The predominant color of the Beacon designed by a Team must match the Team’s assigned Alliance for the Match (Red or Blue).
Also, taped up cups are not legal Beacons - that is, the Beacon may not resemble any POWERPLAY scoring elements.
Team Scrimmaging
One of the best ways for teams to help each other, and have a great time, is unofficial scrimmaging.
Check out the photo below. This is a recent Northern League scrimmage held at Blair Academy.
In addition to Blair FTC, the Jdroids (of Wayne) and both Pope John teams (Sparta) participated.
Any more Scrimmaging Stories out there? You don’t need many teams to make it very worthwhile.
Mentor Request
One of our FTCNJ team organizations (Union County, Northeast Conference) is looking for additional mentoring assistance.
If you know of a technical mentor who is able to lend a hand, please contact FTCNJ and we will put you in touch with them.
There are two teams at this location …, and a lot of team spirit and energy. They just need a little more help.
Team Initiatives
From time to time, FTCNJ hears about some of the worthwhile initiatives being undertaken by various teams.
Recall that in previous issues of this newsletter, we had offered to include a short blurb regarding an Outreach, etc, that a team wanted to share.
We have recently received such a heads up …
South African FLL Initiative (Team #17036 RoboTech Anomaly)
Team 17036 will be collecting supplies on behalf of two South African FLL teams that have almost no supplies, and little funds to buy any.
They are looking for any of the following items: EV3s, NXTs, Raspberry Pies, Arduinos, Lego Motors and Sensors.
RoboTech Anomaly is setting up a donation page on their website (www.njres.org/southafrica ).
Additionally, any team can email 17...@njres.org to learn more about the initiative.
Captains Caucus (Accomplished Nov 18th) ß 3rd Friday of the Month
Coaches should encourage student leaders to attend. Notes are distributed to attendees and their coaches following the sessions.
Thanks to our Breakout Room Leads on Nov 18th … Vincent F (Judging Topics), Quinten S (Mech Topics), Eldrin B (Team Mgmt Topics).
For those who attended, the Caucus Notes and Audio Recording will be provided within the next few days.
Are you a Student Leader? You should join us on these 3rd Friday of the Month Zooms.
Coaches should really consider sending their captain(s)! There is a lot of very smart and very useful information exchanged.
The next Captains Caucus is 8pm in late December. Date TBD (due to the Holidays)
Coaches Caucus (Dec 2nd) ß 1st Friday of the Month
New and veteran coaches met at 8pm on November 4th to discuss topics of mutual interest.
Thanks to all of the Coaches who attended and participated. Topics included PowerPlay Meet experiences, Judging, and Team Management issues.
Are you a coach who is missing out on these discussions? Join us next time and see what it’s like!
The next Coaches Caucus is 8pm on December 2nd. Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtf-6opzMtGNRyD0G15bMykgEi4sjetB99
Our next newsletter will be on November 29th, 2022.
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
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