Updates for Wednesday 1/28/26
Mark Edelman
All,
some updates as the season draws close to its end:
- NorCal FTC Regional Championship Status Update
- Advancement Status Update
- Event Preferencing Open
- Dean's List Interview Event
- Looking Ahead to Next Season
NorCal FTC Regional Championship Status Update
We are confirmed for 2/28-3/1 at Palo Alto High School In Palo Alto!!!
There are still many details to finalize and we will share more as we get closer to the event.
The current plan is that inspection and judging for as many teams as possible will take place Saturday 2/28. There will be a form sent out closer to the event that will allow teams to indicate their availability. If your team is advancing, please plan to be available as early as possible on Saturday afternoon/evening!
The good news is that the walk-through we did last Friday morning makes us sure that a 64-team event WILL work!! We will need everyone's help in making the event a success! The more teams we get through inspection and judging on Saturday, the more likely Sunday will run smoothly and to schedule.
We believe that the pits will support 4 practice fields! But that will mean that we need 4 teams willing to bring and setup a field for the tournament.
Stay tuned for additional information as the details get firmed up!
Advancement Status Update
We have recalculated the advancement based on a 64-team championship (vs. the original 48-team event).
The TLDR is that 6 tournaments will get a bump up as a result of the change and the number of "lottery" spots to give out grew from 8 to 18.
There were 20 total events that will advance teams to the NorCal FTC Regional Championship. 18 "lottery" spots means that 18 of the 20 events will get an additional spot as well.
The "lottery" is done by randomly sorting a list of the advancing events (qualifying tournaments and league tournaments) and then selecting the first 18 events in the list to receive an additional spot.
The lottery and the updates to the event advancement will take place over the next couple of days!
I will post a summary of all the updates when they are completed - it will take a little time to do all the updates. I need to do them one at a time to make sure the marking of previously advanced teams works as intended for later events!
Premier Event Preferencing Open
In one of the recent FTC Blog Posts (https://community.firstinspires.org/event-preferencing), the process of teams providing a preference list to attend post-season events was introduced. This system is similar to our qualifying tournament preference system.
One of the interesting things to note is that all teams are currently eligible to submit a preference list.
Teams that advance from all of the regional championships will be processed first. Once that process is complete, FIRST will be using submitted preference lists to fill open event capacity - regardless of your advancement status!
If you think your team might be interested in traveling to a premier event, it can't hurt to submit a preference list!
Currently, NorCal FTC is allocated a total of 24 advancement slots, including a maximum of 10 reserved FIRST Championship spots.
Dean's List Interview Event
Information was emailed out to the lead coach 1 and lead coach 2 for all Dean's List Semi-Finalists. Coaches, make sure to forward the interview availability form on to your candidates!
Looking Ahead to Next Season
Over the past month or so, I have had several great conversations with teams about potentially hosting next season!
Thank you to all that are planning on stepping up!
If the region continues to grow at its current rate, we will need between 25 and 30 qualifying tournaments to support a target of 2.5 events per team! Please, if you are not already considering hosting/organizing a tournament, take a moment to explore the possibility! If you really are unable to find a venue and/or organize a tournament, please reach out to those that are able and HELP.
We are intending to run a series of calls/workshops/trainings to enable new event hosts once the season has ended. Stay tuned for more info. We need the community to rise up to support more qualifying tournaments!!!
If your team is participating in leagues, what are you doing to support the league? What are you willing to do to help the league grow? League growth, either increasing the size of the currently leagues or adding new leagues, reduces the pressure on the overall tournament capacity needs!
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