Updates for 11/13/25
Mark Edelman
All,
Several updates for today:
- Nov/Dec tournament status
- Jan/Feb tournament status
- Rainy Days for Events at The Play Space
- CA YPP (AB506)
- Advancement from Qualifying Tournaments
- Dean's List Nominations
- Region Size Assessment for FIRST Championship Advancement
- Help Still Needed
Nov/Dec Tournament Status
We unfortunately had to cancel on of the November tournaments (Sun 11/16) due to low registration. We thankfully were able to place most of the teams into other Nov/Dec events.
All teams planning to compete next year should plan on participating in November events. We will not be able to support multiple tournaments per team if we keep needing to cancel November events - we have lost 5 out of 8 viable weekend days for tournaments in November representing 90 additional play opportunities lost!!!
There are a few spots available at the 11/23 event in San Jose at The Play Space. If your team is interested in participating, send an email to f...@playingatlearning.org and we will work to add your team!
Jan/Feb Tournament Status
Initial event preferences for Jan/Feb events will open up Monday 11/17 and close Thursday 11/20.
Thankfully, we have been able to fill all the Jan/Feb dates with events!!!
Currently:
Jan 11 - Saratoga @ Saratoga HS (28 teams)
Jan 17 - Santa Clara #1 @ Wilcox HS (28 teams)
Jan 18 - Santa Clara #2 @ Santa Clara HS (16 teams)
Jan 24 - Folsom #1 @ Folsom Lake College (28 teams)
Jan 25 - Folsom #2 @ Folsom Lake College (28 teams)
Jan 31 - Roseville @ Roseville HS (16 teams)
Feb 1 - San Jose @ The Play Space (16 teams)
Feb 7 - Mountain View @ St Francis HS (28 teams)
The 2nd Folsom event needs the NorCal FTC community to step up and help w/ volunteer recruiting and day-of event management. The "host" team is not a large team (thank you 20163 - Metal Maniacs!!!) and has graciously arranged a back-to-back venue! If the 2nd day is going to happen, it WILL need help.
Thanks should also go out to 18340 - Polaris. They have agreed to host a 2nd tournament!!!
What are YOU doing to support tournaments????
Rainy Day Tournaments at The Play Space
For everyone participating in tournaments at our building (The Play Space) and anyone thinking of coming as a spectator, please be aware of the impact of weather on the events. Our building is just barely big enough to host an event and does NOT have indoor eating spaces for teams. If the weather is poor, teams will be forced to eat in their pits (or in the spectator seating areas).
If it is raining and you are not a competing team, let the teams have the space and watch from home. We are planning to stream the event and take advantage of the building's network connections to have the match results available online throughout the event. Details of the YouTube stream will be sent out tomorrow (Friday)!!
CA YPP (aka CA AB506)
I am expecting to add the CA AB506 status to the team's status page this weekend. We are not using it (yet) for gating any aspect of registration, but teams should make sure that they are in compliance. We are hearing that teams are reporting that AB506 status is blocking them from being able to add students to their team roster. The team roster needs to be complete prior to your team participating in events.
If you are a lead coach for your team and you haven't started the process yet, you really should!!!
Advancement from Qualifying & League Tournaments
FIRST is requiring all regions to use the scoring systems built-in advancement calculator and announce advancement results at each event. In order to work with their requirements, all events are being setup with a basic level of advancement.
As the season winds down, additional spots will be allocated to tournaments based on a lottery of the tournaments.
All advancement results will be visible on ftc-events.firstinspires.org ... soon
Dean's List Nominations Due
For all teams interested in nominating students from their team as Dean's List Semi-Finalists need to pay attention to the new deadlines! Nominations are due by December 15th! If you are planning to nominate a student, it would be best not to wait until the last minute! FIRST IT systems are notorious for having problems at critical times.
Region Size Assessment for FIRST Championship Advancement
Each year, FIRST takes a snapshot of the region sizes on a particular date to determine the allocation of advancement to the FIRST Championship and Premier Events.
This year that date is 11/17. At the end of the day, our team count will determine our rank for allocation.
We are currently the 4th largest region ... and only 6 teams from being 3rd!!
If you are waiting to register/pay for your team for the season, now is the time to get moving!!!
Help Still Needed
Unfortunately, at my doctor's appointment today, I got put into a boot and will be slowed for an additional 4+ weeks. Watch for an email in the next week with ways that you can help!! I had hoped that by now I would be freed from medical entanglements, but life apparently has other plans for me!
Thank you to all that have heard the call for help and answered to support our teams!!! I appreciate all the help that has come so far.
That enough for tonight!!!
Mark & Devin
-- Playing At Learning Northern California Partner for FIRST LEGO League Jr, FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge ma...@playingatlearning.org (844)752-9576 x700