[All] 2021 Theme + Championship location!

[Jared Hasen-Klein]

Hi all,

FIRST made a series of announcements at this morning's virtual awards show regarding the upcoming season. 

We do know the theme, but we still don't know how it will play out in relation to this year. We still can't speak to the timing of the season because of COVID-19, but we do know that the Championship is tentatively planned for its usual time. We don't know if FRC will get a new game or if it will be a modified version of the existing game. I hope for the sake of teams that is cleared up soon, but it might not be. Here are the details...

Theme

FIRST has continued with a unified theme for all four of its programs. The theme for 2021 is FIRST Game Changers. They released a video which talks about sports, potentially different abilities, and the need to dramatically rethink what we are used to. This is in line with the previous "Ready? Set. Go!" business we saw near the end of the FLL season, teasing the next game. The idea of changing our thinking might go back to the idea that we see a recycled game for FRC this year, potentially as a cost saving measure (pure speculation). Only time can tell. Here is the video announcement and here is the webpage if you want to take a look and judge for yourself.

It is also of note that we did not get four separate games and logos. Since FIRST switched to this new model of releasing a unified theme at the Championship, we have been given four distinct games and logos for the four programs, along with the unified theme. For example, for the theme FIRST Rise, we got Boomtown Build, City Shaper, Skystone, and Infinite Recharge. Now, though, we just have Game Changers. To me, this is an indication that there are still options on the table and FIRST has not yet made a decision about the upcoming season which they want to share with the public.

2021 Championships

We originally thought that the 2021 Championships might see new locations or a different structure. FIRST usually releases three to four years of dates and locations every three to four years (and then, when the last year hits, they announce the next set). This year was the last year we had that information for, so we were ready to receive several years of save-the-dates. However, we only got information for 2021. This again suggests that there might have been a change in plans and that FIRST is unprepared to share decisions at this time. Here's what we did learn, though:

April 21-24, 2021 - Houston, TX

April 28-May 1, 2021 - Detroit, MI

There is also a new disclaimer on the website that those dates are subject to change, should the wellbeing of participants be at risk. I'm sure we'll start seeing that warning on everything for the foreseeable future. 

If nothing else, I hope to see you all at a Championship in 2021. Till then...or whatever is next...

Jared