Greetings from Botball headquarters! We are busy getting ready for your upcoming regional tournament and we wanted to share some important details with you and your team! This is a very lengthy newsletter, but it includes a great deal of very important information pertaining to your regional tournament. I encourage you to read the entire email carefully and also forward it to students, parents, mentors, administrators. etc.
As always, if you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me by email (mailto:mco...@kipr.org) or phone (405-579-4609).
Regards,
Marci Corey
ONWARD!
Where will the event be held? Independence High School : Gymnasium 1776 Educational Park Dr. San Jose, CA 95133 April 27, 2013
For directions to the event and other important information about your regional tournament, please visit your region's webpage at: http://www.botball.org/events/2013-northern-california-tournament
The Botball FAQ
If your team has not reviewed the FAQ, I would encourage you to do so today and then check back often. All clarification to existing rules is made in the Game Rules FAQ, which can be found in the "2013 Botball Resources" area of the Team Home Base. Your team may be at a disadvantage if you do not thoroughly review at least the Game Rules FAQ prior to the tournament!
What can I expect at registration?
Each team will receive an envelope at registration that will contain the following: - Student "pit passes" - Students must wear their pit passes at all times to be allowed to enter the pit area. If you need additional pit passes please check at the registration desk.
- Tournament programs - Tournament programs will include an alphabetical list of all participating teams.
- "Time Out" sheet - The time out sheet is good for one time out during the course of the tournament. Student team members should keep the time out card at their table in the pit area.
- Team instruction sheet - The team leader(s) and students should review the instruction sheet together upon arrival and ask any questions before the tournament begins at 10 am.
If your team pre-ordered t-shirts you will be able to pick them up at registration! Remember, t-shirts are not included with registration this year. If you did not pre-order t-shirts there will be a very limited quantity available for purchase at $10 each while supplies last.
An Important Note About Clothing!
Please note, If your team did not order Botball t-shirts, the students that bring the robots to the tournament tables are required to wear neutral colored shirts with no colored logos, graphics or words on the front. If you pre-ordered a Botball t-shirt, teams can wear those at the tournament tables. Since many Botball robots track color, it's important that the people who are close to the competition tables are not wearing colors that might disrupt or interfere with color tracking robots. T-shirts that are grey, black, tan, brown or white are best and again, no colored logos, graphics or words on the front. Students who will not be bringing robots to the tournament tables can wear whatever they would like.
A Word About Team Leaders and Mentors
Tournament day marks the end of your role as team leader/mentor and begins your role as "cheer leader" for your team. We truly appreciate all the hard work, dedication and sacrifice that our team leaders give during the Botball Season and the tournament is your chance to sit back, relax and enjoy watching your students do what you trained them to do! The students will be working in the "pit area" throughout the tournament and no adults (other then staff and designated tournament volunteers) will be allowed entrance to the student pit area. No robots may leave the pit and/or arena areas until all of your team's tournament rounds are complete. All programming for Botball robots should be done by students only - that applies to tournament day as well! We will have staff and tournament volunteers available all day to help teams if they are having equipment or programming issues.
What should we bring?
We encourage teams to prepare a checklist so that nothing is left behind on tournament day!
Be sure to bring: - An extension cord and a power strip! We will NOT have these to lend at the tournament.
- Money for lunch or a sack lunch.
- Your robots and all necessary spare parts and power cords.
- Your laptop with all necessary components (including the power cord!).
- A CD or flash drive with a back up file of your code and other important documentation.
- Your presentation materials for the onsite presentation judging. Not sure what this is? See the "Onsite Presentation" section in the BOPD area of the team home base.
Tournament Logistics
Practice Time
As your team arrives and checks in, they will be allowed to set up in the student pit area and then proceed to the on-deck area to check in for practice. Practice will run from approximately 8 am until 9:30 - 9:45 am with seeding rounds starting at 10 am.
Seeding Rounds
In the morning all teams will participate in seeding rounds. Each team will play the game unopposed 3 times - the lowest score is dropped and the top two scores are averaged to determine your overall seeding score. Teams will be called up in alphabetical order to wait in the on-deck area for the tournament table to become available. Only two students from each team may wait in the on-deck area and approach the tournament table.
Double Elimination
In the afternoon ALL teams will play in the double elimination rounds. They will be placed into brackets which are determined by the results of the seeding rounds. Teams will be called up in the order determined by the bracket to wait in the on-deck area for the tournament table to become available. Only two students from each team may wait in the on-deck area and approach the tournament table.
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