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Belated Tuesday Newsday - December 13 2022 Issue ... (Sent via Google Group)

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vfras...@aol.com

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Dec 15, 2022, 10:51:47 PM12/15/22
to ftcnj-tues...@googlegroups.com
Greetings Newsletter Subscribers and FTCNJ Coaches
Apologies for the delay in issuance of this week's Newsletter.

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
Past Weekend’s Meets:
Upper-Central League Meet hosted by NanoGurus (Sat) and Northern League Meet hosted by Hypnotic Robotics (Sun)

Two FTCNJ Teams score 271 points for new record!


 

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.
 
POWERPLAY Season Team Registration  ... Now 175 Teams!
175 of the 179 have registered; 4 potential Rookie Registrations are pending.
159 of the 175  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


Huge Score Achieved at Saturday's Event!
The Alliance of Team #9889 and Team #7350 scored 271 points in a no-penalty match to establish a new NJ and World record!
Congratulations to Cruise Control and Watt NXT? for their very impressive Autonomous Mode and overall performance!


NanoGurus again hosts the "Holiday Meet" (Upper Central League)  – December 10th
Team #4347 and their supporters hosted the largest Meet of the season in their League …with 28 teams participating.
Brooklawn Middle School was the host site and our FTCNJ Pit Area filled their large cafeteria. Luckily, they have a very large gym.
Students and volunteers enjoyed a Subway Sandwich Meal Deal lunch …along with other great treats.
The STEM Girls held a lunchtime briefing on a stage near the cafeteria. It was a busy day!
At day’s end, here are League standings:
  
Upper-Central League Rankings….
#1-7350 (Watt NXT?)
#2-9889 (Cruise Control)
#3-10096 (Those Guys)
#4-12116 (Redbots)
#5-11697 (TECH-tonic)
 

Hypnotic Robotics returns to host the Northern League Sunday Meet – December 11th
Team #4215 has hosted ~ten competitions over the years. After a few years absence, they are back!
They famously hosted a scrimmage during a freak Halloween snowstorm and Hurricane Sandy descended on another of their events.
Naturally, folks held their breath when the snowflakes began to fall on Sunday. We accelerated the pace of the Meet and watched the weather.
Thankfully, the weather cooperated and the fine day of competition finished early and without much difficulty. Great job by all! 
Following this Meet,  here are the League standings:
 
Northern League Rankings….
#1-247 (Reboot)
#2-7026 (Jdroids)
#3-4215 (Hypnotic Robotics)
#4-11456 (Blair Academy)
#5-18757 (Ironmen Rho)
Coming Up … Completing this coming weekend’s two events finishes off "Period #2" of the Meet Season
On Saturday, December 17th, the five FTCNJ teams of Clearview High School will be hosting 28 teams.
Being held at the High School this year (as opposed to the Middle School last year), the December 17th event will be the largest Southern League Meet of the year.
 
On Sunday, December 18th, we head to Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School for a Northeast Edge League Meet. This is the 2nd time hosting for Raider Robotics. 
Team #17670 has been hard at work, planning all of the details of the event, including the layout of two cafeterias that will contain the Pits. 
This is another large, two-field event. In fact, from this point on, all FTCNJ competitions will have 2-fields …through the balance of the year. 


Period #3 (Jan)

       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.
Spectator Policy
  • For Period #3, 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.

League Tournament Season (Feb)

·       In-Person Judging at all eight League Tournaments
·       Remote Dean’s List Interviews taking place during select February weeknights
 

Meet Registration
If you are a coach who has not submitted your Event Requests yet, please do it now …or let FTCNJ know the nature of your problem.

 

FIRST NEWS

 
Tech Video Series: Control Hub and Connecting Electronics
World Championship Allocations
New Jersey has been allocated three advancements to the World Championships in April (Houston)

FIRST TECH CHALLENGE New Jersey News

Team Seeking Expansion Hub

FTC team (#20244 Liberty Lions) is trying to secure an expansion hub for this season. 
Since it's out of stock for the season, they are hoping that that there may be a team who may want to sell one
or a team that has an extra one that they may be willing to lend. Contact vfras...@aol.com if you can help.

Dean’s List Plans

Similar to last season, Dean’s List interviews will be performed remotely again this year.
FIRST has been advised that our Dean’s List “remote event” is February 15th. That allows us to conduct interviews throughout February.
It also means Coaches must 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.
Times and dates of the Orientation Sessions for Coaches will appear in next week's Newsletter.
Meanwhile, information about the Dean’s List is on the FIRST website: FIRST_Robotics_Competition_Deans_List_Award_Guide.pdf (firstinspires.org)

STEM Girls Tech-Talk Survey

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
Thanks to all who have responded to the on-line Survey and many more who filled out hard-copy surveys at recent Meets.
The STEM Girls are still interested in gathering input from coaches, mentors, team members, and other interested parties. 
Feel free to use the link above to still submit your topics of interest …then, stay tuned! 

Coaches Caucus  (Held Dec 2nd) … 1st Friday of the Month

New and veteran coaches met at 8pm on December 2nd to discuss topics of mutual interest.
Thanks to the Coaches who participated. The key topics of interest were Event Experiences and Challenges ….and Dean’s List.  
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 January 6th.
Captains Caucus (January 20th) … 3rd Friday of the Month
Coaches should encourage student leaders to attend. Notes are distributed to attendees and their coaches following the sessions.
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.
Due to the Holidays, the next Captains Caucus is 8pm on January 20th.
  
Our next newsletter will be on December 20th
 
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  
2022-2023_Exec_Summary - Rev S.PDF

vfras...@aol.com

unread,
Dec 21, 2022, 9:14:30 AM12/21/22
to ftcnj-tues...@googlegroups.com
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  (Details Below)
Past Weekend’s Meets:
Southern League Meet hosted by Clearview FTC (Sat) and NE Edge League Meet hosted by Raider Robotics (Sun)

Dean's List and Practice Judging: Initial Plan and Dates developed

STEM Girls: Guest Speaker on December 27th ... and Tech Talk Survey Results


 

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.

The attachment shows our FTCNJ teams by League and Conference in a consolidated list. 
This information is also available via the Team Pin Map on our website, but not in a full listing format such as attached.
For those interested in whom they will be competing against in February, the full listing is helpful.
The Conference Teams information has now also been added to the Event Information page, event by event. 
 
POWERPLAY Season Team Registration  ... 175 Teams (No Change)
175 of the 179 have registered; 4 potential Rookie Registrations are pending.
159 of the 175  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


Clearview FTC hosted the final Period #2 Southern League Meet – December 17th
Coach Ruth Barreiro and her five Clearview FTC teams did a great job of hosting this large Meet.
Similar to some others, this Meet utilized two cafeterias as Pits to feed (27) teams to the fields in their big gymnasium.
Thanks to everyone involved in adding my birthday surprises to the event, especially Rebecca and Sam who share my birthday!
The STEM Girls held another successful recruitment gathering at lunchtime. There are now >100 STEM Girls; the most ever!!
At day’s end, here are League standings:
  
Southern League Rankings….
#1-7149 (Enforcers)
#2-16139 (The Martians)
#3-9533 (Bravenators)
#4-9848 (Gearview)
#5-18241 (Outer Galaxy)
 

Scotch Plains - Fanwood HS hosted Northeast Edge League Sunday Meet – December 18th
The Robotic Raiders (a new host last year) returned to host our final Period #2 Meet of the season.
Yup, they too loaded teams into two cafeterias to feed into their large gymnasium where our two-field event took place.
This venue had an interesting added feature, somewhat of a balcony area in the bleachers. It really elevated the team cheers and chants. Cool!
The STEM Girls' EMPOWER team held their final Tech Talk Survey solicitation. Results are shown under their topic heading, in this document.
Another great job by Matthew Ducker Duffy and all of the supporters of Team #17670. They are solid hosts!
Following this Meet,  here are the League standings:
 
Northeast Edge League Rankings….
#1-11180 (Beaks n Bolts)
#2-18051 (Robotic Llamas)
#3-4890 (AArcHive)
#4-8405 (Millburn Robotics)
#5-10785 (Highlanders)
This past weekend’s two events finished off "Period #2" of the Meet Season
Period #3 begins on Saturday, January 7th at Liberty Science Center.
Everyone enjoy your two Holiday Weekends!
Regroup, enjoy family and friends. Have fun!


Period #3 (Jan)

       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.
Spectator Policy
  • For Period #3, 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.

League Tournament Season (Feb)

·       In-Person Judging at all eight League Tournaments
·       Remote Dean’s List Interviews taking place during select February weeknights
 

Meet Registration
If you are a coach who has not submitted your Event Requests yet, please do it now …or let FTCNJ know the nature of your problem.

 

FIRST NEWS

 
Tech Video Series: Control Hub and Connecting Electronics

World Championship Allocations
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.
FIRST has been advised that our Dean’s List “remote event” is February 15th. That allows us to conduct interviews throughout February.
It also means Coaches must 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 February.

Information on Dean’s List is on the FIRST website: FIRST_Robotics_Competition_Deans_List_Award_Guide.pdf (firstinspires.org)
Hopefully, coaches/teams are already working on their Dean's List nominations. (Two are allowed per team).

Similar to last season, there are two DL Nominator Orientation sessions offered to provide live information and tips. 
Registration Link Session #2 (January 11) ... 7pm: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMrde6rrzguG9WNW5uDGaWBIxf7ESVjStQ1

FTCNJ is also reaching out to past DL Interviewers. New Volunteers welcome as well. Two Training/Orientation Sessions planned.

Remote Practice Judge Interviews

As most know (noted again above), teams participating in January's Saturday Meets can (optionally) participate in Practice Judge Interviews.
At a recent Coaches Caucus, FTCNJ was asked if teams not attending the Saturday Meets could be offered Remote Practice Judge Interviews.
The answer is YES and with the help of our great Judge volunteers whom we will be re-gathering. Use one of the links below to express interest.

A 2-hour block of time (7pm-9pm) will be seen when you register.
Your team will actually be assigned ~10 minute interview appointment once all registrations are set.

STEM Girls Tech-Talk Survey   ...EMPOWER TEAM

For the past 2 years, the Tech-Talks have been “virtual” as a result of the pandemic.  
The season will include a combination of short lunchtime Tech-Talks at competitions and a few full-sized Tech Talks via Zoom.
Thanks to all who have responded to the on-line Survey and many more who filled out hard-copy surveys at recent Meets.

Results:
Respondents indicated the highest interest in "Mechanical Design Topics" (46%), followed closely behind by "Programming Topics" (41%)
"Gear and Gear Ratios" (38%) ranked highest among the mechanical topics, followed by "Chains, Belts, and Pulleys" (33%)
"Basic Sensors" (36%) ranked highest among the programming topics, followed by "Odometry" (33%)

The EMPOWER Team is working on their Tech Talks to address these areas and the applications to FTC robots. More to come!


STEM Girls Guest Speaker   ...STRONGER TEAM

On December 27th, the STEM Girls will host a 7pm "Mixer" and 7:30 Guest Speaker Zoom. 
The theme for the month of January is careers in "Physical Therapy" and "Occupational Therapy"
Opted-In STEM Girls are invited to attend this interesting session about these different career paths.
This season, there is a blend of technical theme careers and other professional careers for women.


Coaches Caucus  (Held Dec 2nd) … 1st Friday of the Month

New and veteran coaches met at 8pm on December 2nd to discuss topics of mutual interest.
Thanks to the Coaches who participated. The key topics of interest were Event Experiences and Challenges ….and Dean’s List.  
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 January 6th.    https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIkdu6tpjgsHdeH3pp4LLlWWUQexnBEbp7l
Captains Caucus (January 20th) … 3rd Friday of the Month
Coaches should encourage student leaders to attend. Notes are distributed to attendees and their coaches following the sessions.
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.
Due to the Holidays, the next Captains Caucus is 8pm on January 20th.
  
Our next newsletter will be on December 27th
175 FTCNJ Teams by Conf and League.xlsx
2022-2023_Exec_Summary - Rev S.PDF
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