Fwd: Tuesday Newsday - August 3 2021
NJFTC Training
From: Vince Frascella <vfras...@aol.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 3, 2021 at 11:47 PM
Subject: Tuesday Newsday - August 3 2021
To: <vfras...@aol.com>
Greetings Newsletter Subscribers and FTCNJ Coaches
Here is our weekly update on our “Freight Frenzy” Season. Newer information is shown in blue text.
Quick Links: Team Status
TEAM STATUS
Registration Status
Currently, 135 teams have either registered their team with FIRST or have advised FTCNJ that they are definitely planning to re-register. Up from 132 teams last week.
Are you helping to recruit other teams or considering starting one yourself? If we can help in any way, please drop us a line. We want to grow FTCNJ!
League/Conference Assignments
Here again are the current League and Conference assignment by count. Current team count and current projection have been added.
North East Edge League (39 Registered or planning to Registered … 48 Teams w/current projections included.)
Bergen Conference: All Bergen County
North East Conference: Hudson, Union Counties
Northern League (28 Registered or planning to Registered … 38 Teams w/current projections included.)
South Essex Conference: Essex County cities of Orange, East Orange, Glen Ridge, Newark, Maplewood, Millburn
Far North Conference: Passaic, Sussex, Warren Counties, and Essex County cities of Nutley, Montclair, Caldwell, Livingston, West Orange
Central West League (35 Registered or planning to Registered … 44 Teams w/current projections included.)
Western Conference: Hunterdon, Morris Counties
Central Conference: Mercer, Somerset Counties
Southern League (33 Registered or planning to Registered … 42 Teams w/current projections included.)
Upper South Conference: Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean Counties
Deep South Conference: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Gloucester, Cumberland, Salem Counties
COACH COMMUNICATIONS
Coach Survey
Thanks very much to all of the Coaches who have responded to the June 20th survey. It is helping us to compile the new season information and solidify the plans.
To date, we have heard back from 125 teams (up from 121 teams). Receiving a response is important to season planning and helping FTCNJ to best serve the community.
Knowing that the survey was sent to our 200 past teams, there are still many who have responded, even just to answer question #1. Re-registering? (YES, NO, UNSURE)
If you are one of the coaches who has yet to respond PLEASE do so soon. https://forms.gle/Zd9V84WpzP3kjFT59
Coach Caucus
We thank all Coaches who attended the July 16th Caucus and we have sent the recording to those requesting it.
The next Coaches Caucus is August 6th ; we are returning to the first-Friday of the month timing.
Here’s the link for the next Coaches Caucus. (Coaches only, please) https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUuf-6qrDgvHNHb1pf_wGRhOBgfehu8FDq0
Topics have been selected for this Friday’s Coach Caucus. They are …
· Early season activities - participating in workshops, outreaches, practice days
· Organizing your team for the coming year … including space & sponsor considerations
· Recruiting and training new team members …including parent / school engagement
New Coach Caucus
Thanks to the new Coaches and prospective Coaches who attended the July 26th or August 2nd Zoom Sessions.
We appreciate the help from experienced Coach/Mentors Bala and Narmada in leading the discussion and providing all of the valuable insights.
The slide set and session recording was sent to all registrants/attendees. Available to others upon request.
Captains Caucus
In mid-September, FTCNJ will re-launch the monthly Captains Caucus. It was very well received last year and starts again soon.
For those unacquainted, this is an opportunity for student Team Leaders and Captains to meet and share best practices.
Breakout Groups are used and various leadership challenges and great ideas are discussed and documented.
Here’s the link to the first Captains Caucus of the Freight Frenzy season: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEucuiqrTwuH9D_usFf2SuxXph5MyGliZ5u
Whereas Coaches Caucus is the 1st Friday of the Month, the Captains Caucus is the 3rd Friday of the month. This one is Sept 17th at 8pm.
COMPETITION NEWS
Per usual, coaches may select/register for their competitions on the Monday following Kick-Off in September using a system to be posted on the FTCNJ Website.
It is understood that all competitions are presently planned to be in-person events, but subject to change if pandemic conditions make it necessary.
We’ll keep everyone posted of any change, and all events will have a re-confirmation date 2 weeks prior to the event date.
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.
This is in keeping with FIRST’s request that all regions/states to complete their Championships by March 6th, a little earlier this year.
FIRST has announced that the World Championship will be held in Detroit: April 27 - April 30, 2022
League Tournament Plans
All League Tournaments will take place in February and all fully registered teams are automatically invited to their League/Conference tournament.
Here are the latest plans. Locations shown, where confirmed.
Feb 5th...........Southern League / Upper South Conference……………….Timothy Christian School, Piscataway, NJ
Feb 6th…………Northeast Edge League / Northeast Conference………….Bayonne High School, Bayonne, NJ
Feb 12th………..Northern League / Southern Essex Conference……………Pending Host Confirmation
Feb 13th………..Central West League/ Central Conference………………….Pending Host Confirmation
Feb 19th………..Central West League/Western Conference…………………Pending Host Confirmation
Feb 20th………..Northern League / Far North Conference…………………...Livingston High School, Livingston, NJ
Feb 26th………..Northeast Edge League / Bergen Conference……………..Glen Rock High School, Glen Rock, NJ
Feb 27th………..Southern League/ Deep South Conference…………………Pending Host Confirmation
8 League Meets – in January
There will be two Meet opportunities for each League in January. Teams have a choice of a Saturday Meet (underlined) or Sunday Meet.
It is also intended that four of our January Meets (one in each League) will include “Practice Judging”, as a tune up for February’s official judging at League Tournaments
Jan 8th………..Northern League / Either Conference……………………………Liberty Science Center, Jersey City, NJ
Jan 9th………..Central West League / Either Conference……………….…….Pingry School (Basking Ridge or Bedminster Campus)
Jan 15th.……...Northeast Edge League / Either Conference…………………Pending Host Confirmation
Jan 16th……….Southern League / Either Conference…………………………..Egg Harbor Twp PAL, Egg Harbor Township, NJ
Jan 22nd……….Central West League/ Either Conference………………………Chatham High School, Chatham, NJ
Jan 23rd……....Northern League / Either Conference…………………………..Pending Host Confirmation
Jan 29th……….Southern League / Either Conference…………………………..RW Johnson Barnabas Health Arena, Toms River, NJ
Jan 30th……….Northeast Edge League / Either Conference………………….Emerson High School, Emerson, NJ
8 League Meets – in November / December
There will be two normal Meet opportunities in each League in the period of Nov 20 – Dec 19. Teams have a choice of a Saturday or Sunday Meet.
All eight venues have been solicited. Awaiting (hopefully) host confirmation.
Nov 20th………..Northeast Edge League / Either Conference………………….Pending Host Confirmation
Nov 21st………..Central West League/ Either Conference……………………..Pending Host Confirmation
Dec 4th ………..Northern League / Either Conference……………………………Pending Host Confirmation
Dec 5th ………..Southern League / Either Conference……………………….….Pending Host Confirmation
Dec 11th………..Central West League/ Either Conference………………………Pending Host Confirmation
Dec 12th………..Northeast Edge League / Either Conference…………….…..Pending Host Confirmation
Dec 18th………..Southern League / Either Conference……………………………Pending Host Confirmation
Dec 19th………..Northern League / Either Conference…………………………..Pending Host Confirmation
8 Special Meets – 4 Early November Meets & 4 Holiday Meets (Halloween & Thanksgiving Weekend)
FTC NJ is continuing the tradition of offering each League one more special Meet opportunity. Many teams have taken advantage of this in past years.
The spooky Halloween Meets are always extra fun for those ready for the first competitions of the season. (October 30th / 31st)
The long four-day Thanksgiving weekend provides an opportunity for an additional official Meet on Saturday or Sunday.
Nov 06th ………..Southern League / Either Conference…………………………Pending Host Confirmation
Nov 07th ………..Northern League / Either Conference……….…………..…..Pending Host Confirmation
Nov 13th…….….Northeast Edge League / Either Conference……..…………Don Bosco Prep HS, Ramsey, NJ
Nov 14th………..Central-West League / Either Conference…………...…….. Pending Host Confirmation
Oct 30th ………..Northern League / Either Conference…………………………Pending Host Confirmation
Oct 31st ………..Northeast Edge League / Either Conference……….….…..Pending Host Confirmation
Nov 27th……….Central-West League / Either Conference……………………Pending Host Confirmation
Nov 28th………..Southern League / Either Conference………………….……..Girl Scouts ‘Program Activity Center’, Farmingdale, NJ
PRE-SEASON EVENTS (In-Person)
Practice Days & Post-Reveal Workshops
The FTCNJ tradition of October Practice Days will continue. Two – three are planned. Teams can bring non-functional robots for tinkering and help.
Training sessions planned at Practice Days ..but expanded over past years. Sign-up details In mid/late August …following venue confirmations.
Our goal is to provide our August-quality workshops to those teams that did not form until Sept/October.
Oct 10th………..Northern NJ Teams (prioritized, others possible)……….Pending Host Confirmation (Bergen County) – awaiting Mid-Aug Confirmation
Oct 16th………..Central NJ Teams (prioritized, others possible)……...….Soliciting New Host
Oct 23rd………..Southern NJ Teams (prioritized, others possible)……….RW Johnson Barnabas Health Arena, Toms River, NJ.
Outreach Scrimmages
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, FTCNJ is interested in holding two Outreach Scrimmages this year.
These events are intended to engage prospective new teams. If your team is doing outreach and helping another school to make the decision to start a team, this event can really help.
We’ll be providing an overview of FTC, get assistance from some great veteran teams, and give new folks a chance to drive a loaner robot. It’s all about helping new teams to start.
Sep 11th………..Southern NJ ….. Pending Host Confirmation (Atlantic County)
Sep 25th………..Northern NJ ….. Bard High School Early College, Newark, NJ
Kick-Off / Game Reveal
Game Reveal will take place on Saturday, September 18th. FTCNJ will livestream a Remote Kick-Off event, similar to last year.
We have reasoned that holding the two 250-300 person events in September could make schools, parents, teams anxious at this time.
Thanks once again to RJ Controls for agreeing to host the virtual Kick-Off Event and livestream it to our teams and their supporters.
Workshops
Our Planning Committee is working on formulation of the workshops and we should be announcing details within 1 week.
We’ve learned that some sessions can be held very effectively in Remote … allowing more attendees, convenience, and cleared communication.
And so, this year’s workshops will be a blend of In-Person and Remote. Those topics benefiting from hands-on activity will be in-person.
Aug 21st………..Northern NJ Teams (prioritized, others possible)………………Kean University, Union, NJ.
Aug 28th………..Southern NJ Teams (prioritized, others possible)……………..Williamstown High School, Williamstown, NJ
Sorry, more time is needed before the sign-up information can be sent to Coaches. It should happen within the next few days.
Four Tracks are planned – Basic Mechanical, Advanced Mechanical, Blocks Programming Debug and Java Programming Debug.
There will also be one additional Track for the Coaches/Mentors who bring their students to the event. It will cover Coach/Team Topics.
Other topics, traditionally covered in our large Workshops, will be offered via Remote Sessions (Zoom) this year. More to come on that.
REMOTE SESSIONS
Two Remote Workshops will be occurring at mid-month. Each is ~60 minutes long and will provide an introduction to programming.
Those who may be planning to apply for the Blocks or Java Debug Workshop (Aug 21st or Aug 28th) should really attend one of the two Remote Sessions below.
Both of the sessions will follow the same Outline. Here it is …
· The programming interface
· Creating a new opmode
· Basic motor operations
· Basic Teleop (tank drive)
· Basic autonomous (drive by time)
· Introduce a very basic challenge to assign as homework before the live session.
· This approach saves time during the in-person workshop day (and is very helpful to those who may not fit into the in-person headcount)
Blocks Session – August 17th
Here is the Registration Link for the 7pm (Tuesday) Session. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcpd-uhrT0uG9LA_httfRQwnJVN2BfVJtzo
The Remote Workshop Lead will be FTA Narmada Krishnaswamy.
The session will include a very basic introduction to programming. If you (or your people) are brand new to programming, this is a great way to start.
Since we have a very large Zoom bandwidth, we are not restricting the number of attendees, however folks will be muted and will use ‘Chat’ to enter any questions.
Java Session – August 18th
Here is the Registration Link for the 7pm (Wednesday) Session. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rc-2prT8qH9SP7pDbSe226we-0yEv2Ija
The Remote Workshop Lead will be FTA Chris Kunkel.
This Java-focused track is for beginners with little or no experience. Those that have done it before can come, of course, but they may find it basic.
OnBot Java will be used, though some folks may have loaded Android Studio.
Separate offerings will be provided for Android Studio load (e.g., lunchtime at August Workshops, or separate Zooms)
Similar to Blocks, we are not restricting the number of attendees, however folks will be muted and will use ‘Chat’ to enter any questions
FIRST COMMUNITY NEWS
Links Recently Shared
Our local Senior Mentor, Chris Nalbone, advised that the information below was recently shared on a FIRST Senior Mentor call.
You might want to check them out. (Thanks, Chris!)
· FTC SIM (from FIRST Canada): http://pixelpad.io/ftcsim (Learn programming via this simulation environment)
· FTC Coaches development (from U of Iowa): https://www.engineering.uiowa.edu/first-tech-challenge-virtual-coach-professional-development (3 Saturdays in August, half and full-day sessions)
FTCNJ TEAM NEWS
Maryland Invitational
· Congrats to three of our New Jersey teams for acceptance into the MTI event and the nice showing there.
· FTCNJ was ably represented by #9889 (Cruise Control), #14481 (Don’t Blink) and #18246 (Delta V)
Hopefully, this Communique has provided a lot of good information regarding the coming season. (New in blue!)
Our next newsletter will be on August 10th
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
Looking forward to seeing everyone soon.
More to come.
Thanks much, Vince Frascella
FIRST Tech Challenge New Jersey