Oklahoma FTC weekly newsletter - 12/8/2025

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Mary Jo Othon

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Dec 8, 2025, 9:00:51 AM12/8/25
to 'Mary Jo Othon' via Oklahoma FTC News
Hello FTC teams!

Good morning teams!  Congratulations to Team #14906, Leviathan Robotics, who was chosen as Oklahoma’s representative to attend the US Governor’s Cup in February.  This past weekend saw the Carver, Hadfield, Merian and May leagues in action.  To see league results, please go to this website.   The next weekend sees action by the Carver, DaVinci, Herrington, Merian, and May Leagues.  Don’t forget, Dean’s List nominations are due on 12/15.

📅  UPCOMING OKLAHOMA EVENTS:

      DECODE COMPETION MATERIALS

📝 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.

🚶 UPDATE ON ADVANCEMENTS
  • Advancements from all tournaments have been announced.  Here are the advancement numbers  from the League Qualifiers:
Tournament
# of teams
PERCENT OF STATE TEAMS
TEAM ALLOCATION TO STATE
Kingfisher
25
31
9
Mustang
27
33
10
Bishop Kelley
29
36
11
TOTAL
81
100
30
  • Oklahoma Regional Championship advancement numbers:
    • Worlds slots - 4 (up from 3 last year)
    • Premier Events slots - 7 (up from 5 last year)
  • Advancements will be determined by Section 4.1 of the Competition Manual.

👩🏻‍⚖️REQUEST FOR JUDGES
  • Coaches, you can volunteer to judge at another League Tournament event and gain invaluable insight to the judging process.  You will get to see teams from other regions as well!  Make time now!
  • 1/31/2026 - Mustang League Tournament volunteer link
  • 2/7/2026 - Kingfisher League Tournament volunteer link
  • 2/7/2026 - Bishop Kelley League Tournament volunteer link

❄️INCLEMENT WEATHER POLICY
  • Events for our region are booked and scheduled in advance. Event managers have the authority to cancel an event if their facility determines conditions to be unsafe. This policy would apply to inclement weather or any other public safety issue including a lack of screened volunteers. Meets can be rescheduled at the League Manager’s discretion.
  • It is highly unlikely that League Tournaments will be rescheduled. If a League Tournament  is cancelled, judging will take place remotely. We will work with the coaches to schedule remote judging sessions. Judged awards will be based on judging sessions and team ranking will be determined from Meet scores.

👩🏻‍💻DEAN’S LIST INTERVIEWERS
  • Do you have a former team member who would be interested in serving on the judging team for this year’s Dean List selections?  We are looking for former team standouts over the age of 21 to help on the panel with virtual interviews in January.
  • Please encourage those former students to apply.  link for intervewers

🗂️FLL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
  • Is your team looking for outreach activities?  Oklahoma FLL is needing student and adult volunteers to help at the State Championship on Saturday, 12/13, at Memorial High School in Tulsa.

🤔 QUESTION BOX FOR TEAMS
  • You can use this form and one of the state leads will address your concern below.

🏁 BR’s BREAKDOWNS
  • Happy Monday Everyone!  It’s time for the Zebra Strips update! This week I would like for you to focus on the Ranking Points rules. So like every week, I would like for you to go into your team’s rules manual and highlight all the things that I’m about to point out. 

👨🏻‍⚖️CHRIS’s CORNER
  • This Thursday (December 11th) will be the last 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:
  • Although it is December, it is never too early to think about Championship!  FTC recently put out a blog post with a call for volunteers who are needed to fill many roles in Houston, Texas at the end of April and early May. Championship is a multi-day event where you get to interact with teams from all over the world and an exciting opportunity to meet with other volunteers from different regions.
  • View the FTC Community Blog post below for more details:

📋EMILY’s EXPLANATIONS
  • Question from a team: If a robot had a gekowheel on the line of the 18 in expansion limit, and it enlarges due to the speed of the motor, that is considered illegal per rule R105, correct?
Answer: R105 in the orange box: "Any extension beyond the maximum expansion limit during ROBOT operation is considered a violation of this rule. This includes flexible extensions (e.g. surgical tubing flappers, star intakes) that cause the ROBOT to exceed the expansion limit."  The Q&A answer to Q122 even ruled out wire harnesses and cable ties sticking out, so this year's game is definitely intended to force teams to consider tightly packing every mechanism inside the size limits.
  • Reminder:  If your robot sign is looking worse for wear, or the numbers look a little undersized, FIRST has a printable option available that meets the color and sizing requirements (assuming you have access to a color printer). Just fill in the appropriate cells with either red or blue marker and laminate with clear tape!
  • Now that we are several meets into the season, you may want to review this video as a reminder of what to expect at inspections.  

Mary Jo Othon
    Oklahoma FTC PDP
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