Donate

FTC DECODE Blog: Volume 10

by | Oct 21, 2025 | FTC, Newsletter

FIRST Washington Invoices need to be secured this week 

To participate in your League events:  

  • You must be registered with FIRST HQ (firstinspires)  – I’m happy to report that all teams are registered with FIRST HQ 
  • You must be registered with FIRST Washington – I’m also happy to report that all teams are registered with FIRST Washington 
  • Your FIRST Washington Invoice must be secured – As of this morning 92 teams still need to secure their invoice. 
  • You can secure your FIRST Washington invoice with at check, credit card or PO from your school (if you are a school affiliated team)’ 

You can check your invoice and payment status here:  https://firstwa.org/ftc-registration/ *** Please not, payment status is updated manually once a day.   

 

 

Coaches Chat last week  

 If you missed the coaches chat last week, you can find the slide decks here:  https://firstwa.org/webinars/     

Unfortunately, we had technical difficulties so we don’t have a recording of last week’s coaches chat. 

 

Important Dates & Deadlines

  • 12-6 & 12-7:  Feynman & Pasteur League Tournaments 
  • 12-13 & 12-14:  Curie, Wu, Hawking & Tesla League Tournaments 
  • 12-15:  Dean’s List nominations Due 
  • 12-20:  Watt League Tournament 
  • 1-8:  January Coaches Chat 
  • 1-12 to 1-25:  Remote Dean’s List Interview Window 
  • 1-17 & 1-18:  Super Qualifying Tournaments 
  • 1-31:  State Championship 

FRC REBUILT Blog: Volume 10

by | Oct 21, 2025 | FRC, Newsletter

Boeing Grant is open! 

    The grant is open October 20 through November 14th or until all funds are exhausted. If you have a Boeing Mentor, I encourage you all to apply early for 2 reasons: 

    1. To ensure you are allocated funding before it runs out (this happened to many of our FRC teams a few years ago)

       

    2. With the grant opening so late, to ensure your funding has been allocated prior to event registration closing.  When we do invoices, we have to apply grant funding based on how FIRST has applied those funds.  If your Boeing funds don’t show as applied on FIRST’s end when we invoice, they will not show on your FIRST Washington invoice.  You will have to wait until FIRST opens their regrant window and will have to request a regrant to access those funds. 

    Your Boeing Mentor should have access to the grant through an internal system. 

      Next FRC Coaches Chat, 7 PM Thursday, October 23 

      Our next coaches chat is scheduled for this Thursday, October 23 at 7:00 pm.  Please make sure to have one coach attend if possible. 

      We are trying something new this season and will have a guest presenter  October, November and December coaches chats.   

      For this chat, we have asked Emil from 2928 to do a presentation talking about how to become a 501c3 

      I will still be going over critical information during this meeting as well so again, plese make sure to have one adult attend. 

      Click here for the meeting link. 

      Second round of preferencing closes at 9 am Thursday 

      To preference for your second event, both coaches must have passed youth protection screening and signed consents so if you were able to preference during the first round (which all of you were!) Do not change coaches unless your new coach is through screening.   

      A few things to note about your second round of preferencing: 

      • Teams are no longer guaranteed their home event.  If you did not pick your home event during the first round of preferencing, you are no longer guaranteed space at that event. 
      • Just like the first round of preferencing, the window will close next Thursday at 9 am.  You can pick your preferences any time during that window.  I recommend that you make sure you have entered your preferences by Wednesday evening. 

      According to an email from FIRST this morning, most of you have not submitted your preferences for your second event yet.  Don’t wait until the last minute, make sure they are submitted today! 

      Important Dates

      FRC REBUILT Blog: Volume 9

      by | Oct 14, 2025 | FRC, Newsletter

      Second round of preferencing opens at 9 am Thursday 

        To preference for your second event, both coaches must have passed youth protection screening and signed consents so if you were able to preference during the first round (which all of you were!) Do not change coaches unless your new coach is through screening.   

        A few things to note about your second round of preferencing: 

        • Teams are no longer guaranteed their home event.  If you did not pick your home event during the first round of preferencing, you are no longer guaranteed space at that event. 
        • Just like the first round of preferencing, the window will close next Thursday at 9 am.  You can pick your preferences any time during that window.  I recommend that you make sure you have entered your preferences by Wednesday evening. 

          Next FRC Coaches Chat, 7 PM Thursday, October 23 

          Our next coaches chat is scheduled next Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 pm.  Please make sure to have one coach attend if possible. 

          Click here for the meeting link. 

          Important Dates

          FTC DECODE Blog: Volume 9

          by | Oct 13, 2025 | FTC, Newsletter

          Coaches Chat this Thursday (10-16) at 7:00 pm 

          We will be having our next coaches chat this Thursday at 7:00 pm.  On this chat we will be going over how to make sure you are prepared for your first league event.  

          Additionally, our Development team will be giving a fundraising presentation. 

          Please make sure to have at least one adult attend the coaches chat!  Click here for the meeting link. 

           

          Final FTC Leagues have been posted 

          Just in case you missed last Friday’s communication, Final league assignments have been posted here:  https://firstwa.org/ftc-competition-info/  There is a list by team # as well as by league (you will need to scroll to see the entire list) 

          Many of you may have heard from your League Coordinators last Friday.  If you haven’t, you should be hearing from them early this week.  Feel free to email me on Friday if you have not heard from your league coordinator and I will connect you with them. 

          Invoicing and payment  

          Your team must be registered with both FIRST and FIRST Washington to participate in competitions and your FIRST Washington invoice must be secured.  

          We have sent invoices for all of the FTC teams registered with FIRST and FIRST Washington last week.  We will be sending another round of invoices mid-week this week (hopefully our last round)   

          You can check your invoice and payment status here:  https://firstwa.org/ftc-registration/  

          Important Dates & Deadlines

          • 12-6 & 12-7:  Feynman & Pasteur League Tournaments 
          • 12-13 & 12-14:  Curie, Wu, Hawking & Tesla League Tournaments 
          • 12-15:  Dean’s List nominations Due 
          • 12-20:  Watt League Tournament 
          • 1-8:  January Coaches Chat 
          • 1-12 to 1-25:  Remote Dean’s List Interview Window 
          • 1-17 & 1-18:  Super Qualifying Tournaments 
          • 1-31:  State Championship 

          FRC REBUILT Blog: Volume 8

          by | Oct 6, 2025 | FRC, Newsletter

          Kickoff registration is open!

            All teams need to either register for an in person kickoff or select to be a my site.  Here are a few things to note: 

            • FIRST is asking for teams to enter a shipping address even if they are registering for an in person kickoff.   This is in case something needs to be shipped to teams after kickoff. 
            • If you select MySite, your kickoff kit will not ship to you until after kickoff which means any game piece, etc won’t be received by your team until a week or so after kickoff.  Additionally, there is a charge to have your kit shipped to you.  That charge will be included on your registration invoice. 

              Link to last weeks FRC Coaches Chat 

              If you missed last week’s coaches chat, you can view the slides and recording here:  https://firstwa.org/webinars/  

              Reminder from the Finance Department 

              Please make sure your team number is clearly included on ALL donations sent on behalf of your team. This includes checks, volunteer matches, and ACH deposits. 

              If for any reason a team number cannot be included, it’s essential that you communicate directly with the Finance Department to ensure proper allocation.(accounting@firstwa.org) 

              ⚠️ Without a team number, we cannot guarantee that funds will be credited to your team’s booster account. 

              Thank you for helping us keep everything organized and accurate! 

                Important Dates