Oklahoma FTC weekly update - 11/10/2025

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Mary Jo Othon

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Nov 10, 2025, 9:00:31 AM11/10/25
to 'Mary Jo Othon' via Oklahoma FTC News
Hello FTC teams!

Good morning teams!  This past weekend saw Hadfield and May leagues in action.  To see league results, please go to this website.   Carver is back in action this Saturday!

📅  UPCOMING OKLAHOMA EVENTS:

💲SEASON FEES:
  • Oklahoma Registration Fee - $275
  • Invoices have been sent via PayPal
  • In order to participate in Oklahoma events, teams pay a registration fee to OKSEF.   This non-refundable fee covers 3 to 5 League Meets, 1 League Tournament and the State Regional Championship (if qualified).  Teams will be receiving an invoice shortly for this.  OKSEF gives 45 days after the invoice date to pay without penalty. Teams must pay in order to compete in their League Tournament.
 

      DECODE COMPETION MATERIALS

🏃 LEAGUE MEET READY
  • FTC Meets have begun so it’s time to make sure that all teams are ready. At this point, all teams should have completed the following:
    • Paid FIRST HQ Registration Fee
    • Verified that Team Roster is Event Ready  Confirmed that ALL students who will be playing on the team have been added to the team roster (with an electronically signed consent & release form)  
    • Pre inspect your robot using the inspection checklist
    • Safety Glasses for all team members and visitors to the pits. Everyone in the pit area or competing at the field is required to wear safety glasses or have side shields on their prescription glasses. Safety glasses will NOT be provided.
  • If you don’t feel “ready,” come anyway. Meets are a great learning experience. We will help you get the robot running. If a team member is available to stand at the field, the team still gets points.If nothing else, your team can come and learn the rules of the game and get some building and strategy ideas.

🤠 “OK FTC - THE LOST OBELISK”- COMING TO THEATERS NEAR YOU!!!!
  • Your Oklahoma Head Referee, BR Bryan, has a fun video project for all teams to work on.  She is making a video to show at the Oklahoma Regional and she needs all teams, volunteers, mentors, and coaches help! Let’s help her have some fun with this!
  • Watch the trailer for more information on how you can get involved! 

📝 DEAN’S LIST NOMINATIONS
  • The Dean’s List Award recognizes outstanding student leaders (in 10th and 11th grade) in FIRST Tech Challenge. Coaches may nominate up to twostudents from their team who demonstrate leadership, dedication, and embody the values of FIRST.  Students selected as Dean’s List Finalists are celebrated during the season, and a small number of winners are honored at the FIRST Championship.
  • Participating in the Dean's List is an excellent way to highlight the impact of your team’s student leaders and connect them with the broader FIRST community.
  • The 2025–2026 season follows an updated nomination and interview process. Here are the key dates for this year’s Dean’s List:
    • Nominations are Open!
    • Nomination Deadline: December 15th
    • Interviews: 1/13/2026 to 1/27/2026 (remote)
  • For more information on the Dean’s List Nomination, see this link.

TEAM AVATARS
  • As of today there are 2025 total teams with approved avatars! Team avatar uploads are available for teams who are registered for the current season. The team avatar link goes directly to the page to upload the avatar. There are step-by-step instructions on the FTC Scoring – Lead Coach website. If you need assistance, email custome...@firstinspires.org.
  • For more information, visit this page
 
🤔 QUESTION BOX FOR TEAMS
  • You can use this form and one of the state leads will address your concern below.

🏁 BR’s BREAKDOWNS
  • Nothing new this week, stay tuned!  

👨🏻‍⚖️CHRIS’s CORNER
  • This Thursday (November 13th) will be the second of three Team-Focused webinars, looking at Judging, Gameplay, and General Support. Teams need to sign up for the webinars to be able to join in on the calls. Teams may access the sign up links and access the playlist of recordings using this link:

📋EMILY’s EXPLANATIONS
  • This season's game is showing to be a challenging one, both in design and durability of the robots. Keep in mind that your robot is expected to handle some rigorous play on the field [see Game Manual Rule G420] and some of the best ways you can prepare your robot are:
    • to ensure that your battery is secured and will not dislodge [R606] by using secure measures such as hook and loop (Velcro) straps and placement low and central to the robot
  • check electrical connections before and after every match [R607]. As mechanisms move around on your robot, be mindful of connections that may become loose and check insulation of the wires for wear and pinching.
  • reorient your power switch so it is not exposed to external contact [R609]. The switch must be visible and accessible, but it is recommended to locate the switch away from moving parts and protected from robot-to-robot contact. The orange box recommends to not block the switch with a cover, but if it is easily identified and accessible... (If you have to place the switch in an "exterior" location, avoid using a breaker box "door" that has to be opened, but consider a structure surrounding the switch that allows the switch to still be accessible by hand, but might prevent an artifact from contacting it.) 
  • be sure to check and tighten fasteners before matches [R205]. Our Referees typically will not flag teams leaving behind bolts or nuts on the field, but a loose bolt is a precursor to a lost motor, lost servo, lost wheel, or other critical robot mechanism. We'd love to put together our volunteer robot one of these days, but if you don't want to donate parts, secure and check for missing hardware, especially after matches.




Mary Jo Othon
    Oklahoma FTC PDP
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