In this weeks Blog-

*Last coaches chat of the season moved to this Thursday!*

Good luck to the teams competing this weekend!

Reminders!

Make sure you read the entire blog!

Good luck this weekend!!

Congratulations to the teams competing in the Western Washington Semifinals and the Eastern Washington state championship! 

This should be a fun weekend!

If you are not sure of your assignment, you can check at the link below! 

FLL Advancement

I was able to switch all but 4 teams that requested to change events. I am sorry I was unable to accomodate all. 

Please Remember-

ALL teams moving on to the next set of events (Semifinals or State) are required to turn in a printed roster from your FIRST Inspires dashboard and paper copies of any consent forms for students or adults not listed electronically. NO EXCEPTIONS! If you come without one, we will direct you to go find a place to print it and come back. There are not printers on site for you to use. We will not check in your team without it. This is your responsibility!

You also must have ALL student participants listed on your FIRST Inspires roster with either a green check mark, or have paper copies of their consent form signed by a parent or guardian.

The max number of student participants allowed by FIRST on an FLL Challenge team is 10. If you have more than 10 listed, you will not be eligible to win awards or advance. If you did it at the qualifier and no one caught it, I would advise you fix your rosters now 🙂

FLL Challenge Coaches Chat

Join us 1/16/25 for the next Coaches Chat! – this was moved to Thursday! 

We will be talking about-

• Semifinals
• State
• Beyond

This will be our last coaches chat of the season! We will be answering robot game questions as long as Head Referee Kevin is in attendance!

Whats After State?

One team from each state championship will advance to the World Festival in Houston, Texas in April.

Teams will also have the oportunity to advance to one of the FLL open events. This year I have-

Greece- 1 spot (May 2-4, 2025)

Massachusetts- 2 spots (June 13-15, 2025)

California- 2 spots (May 30-June 1, 2025)

Florida- 2 spots (June 24-28, 2025)

New Jersey- 3 spots (May 17-18, 2025)

 The 2 Champions award winning teams (one from East and one from West) will each get a spot to World Festival in Houston. 

The Champions award finalist teams (one from East and one from West) will get first choice out of the above FLL Open Events. 

Once the finalists have chosen, the remaining open spots will open for signups to the award winning teams from the 2 state championships. 

Teams will be selected at random for each event, so make sure you only sign up for events you can acctually attend. 

If there are remaining spots, the sign up will open to teams that attended the state events. 

More From FLL

In this weeks Blog-

Western Semifinal and Eastern State Assignments!

 Reminders!

FLL Coaches Chat

Make sure you read the entire blog!

Advancement Assignments!!

Sorry for the delay, I needed the two weeks off 🙂

I did my best to keep Saturday Qualifier teams to Saturday and Sunday Qualifier teams to Sunday. A few were moved around due to location and availability. 

FLL Advancement

If you would like to apply to switch your date or location- you can fill out this form. I will do my best to accommodate as many teams as I can, but the only way I can switch a team in is if another wants to move out. It is first come first served, as long as I have a compatible swap. I will not be taking requests through email. If you email me a request I will not reply.

This form will be open until the end of the day Friday 1/10

Semifinal form

Please Remember-

ALL teams moving on to the next set of events (Semifinals or State) are required to turn in a printed roster from your FIRST Inspires dashboard and paper copies of any consent forms for students or adults not listed electronically. NO EXCEPTIONS! If you come without one, we will direct you to go find a place to print it and come back. There are not printers on site for you to use. We will not check in your team without it. This is your responsibility!

You also must have ALL student participants listed on your FIRST Inspires roster with either a green check mark, or have paper copies of their consent form signed by a parent or guardian.

The max number of student participants allowed by FIRST on an FLL Challenge team is 10. If you have more than 10 listed, you will not be eligible to win awards or advance. If you did it at the qualifier and no one caught it, I would advise you fix your rosters now 🙂

FLL Challenge Coaches Chat

Join us 1/14/25 for the next Coaches Chat!

We will be talking about-

• Semifinals
• State
• Beyond

This will be our last coaches chat of the season! We will be answering robot game questions as long as Head Referee Kevin is in attendance! 

Eastern Washington State

Eastern Washington State is January 18th in Spokane at St. Georges School. Info will be coming out from the event hosts soon. 

Western Washington State

Western Washington State will be February 2nd in Seattle at the Amazon Meeting Center. Teams that advance from the semifinals to state will receive info the following week.

Whats After State?

One team from each state championship will advance to the World Festival in Houston, Texas in April.

Teams will also have the oportunity to advance to one of the FLL open events. This year I have-

Greece- 1 spot

Massachusetts- 2 spots

California- 2 spots

Florida- 2 spots- updated! 1 additional spot!

New Jersey- 3 spots

More From FLL

In this weeks Blog-

You did it! Now What?

Make sure you read the entire blog!

You did it!!

Congratulations to all the teams that competed this season! 

No matter the outcome, you should be proud of your teams! They worked hard, learned new information and new skills! 

They look to you as coaches and mentors to support them, win or lose, and be a postitive influence in their lives. They could not do it without you! 

Take time to celebrate what they have done, and take some much needed rest over the holidays! 

What’s next?

Teams advancing from the Qualifiers in Western Washington head to the semifinals, from Eastern Washington to the Eastern WA state championship. 

Semifinals are January 18th-19th in Seattle and Kent/Covington. Eastern WA state is January 18th in Spokane. 

Look for more details in the coming weeks! 

Please Remember-

ALL teams moving on to the next set of events (Semifinals or State) are required to turn in a printed roster from your FIRST Inspires dashboard and paper copies of any consent forms for students or adults not listed electronically. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you come without one, we will direct you to go find a place to print it and come back. There are not printers on site for you to use. We will not check in your team without it. This is your responsibility!

Semifinals!

Western Washington Semifinals – January 18th-19th. 

Teams advancing will be assigned to an event and a day just like in the Qualifiers. There is no additional fee. 

In the past, teams that have attended events from Seattle north have gone to Seattle, teams that attended events from Seattle south attended in Kent/Covington. 

If you competed in a Saturday Qualifier, there is a high likelyhodd you will be assigned a Saturday Semifinal, if you competed in a Sunday Qualifier, there is a high likelyhood you will compete in a Sunday Semifinal. 

There will be a schedule coming out, most likely over the Christmas break. I will be including a form similar to the day switch form for the Qualifiers. *Please note- I can only move a team if a team is moving out of the event/day you want to switch into. There are no extra spots available. 

DO NOT email me requests for days/locations for your team. I will not respond. I will only take requests using the form. 

Eastern Washington State

Eastern Washington State is January 18th in Spokane. Info will be coming out from the event hosts soon. 

Western Washington State

Western Washington State will be February 2nd in Seattle. Teams that advance from the semifinals to state will receive info the following week.

Whats After State?

One team from each state championship will advance to the World Festival in Houston, Texas in April.

Teams will also have the oportunity to advance to one of the FLL open events. This year I have-

Greece- 1 spot

Massachusetts- 2 spots

California- 2 spots

Florida- 1 spot

New Jersey- 3 spots

More From FLL

In this weeks Blog-

Events are here! 

One weekend down, one to go!

How to print a roster

Note – For teams competing this weekend and going forward!

Fundraising for Your Team!

Next weeks blog we will talk about Semifinals and State! 

Make sure you read the entire blog!

One weekend down one to go!!

Congratulations to the teams that competed last weekend! 

I will be running around this weekend stopping in at events to see what your teams have done! Make sure to celebrate how hard they have worked and how much they learned no mater the outcome.

This day is all about them!

How to Print a Roster!

Every season I get questions from coaches right before events asking how to print their roster! A team roster is required at every event you attend.

If your students are not listed on your roster electronically, you still have to turn one in! You need to hand write their names on and attach a paper consent form signed by a parent or guardian for every event you attend.

Where do I find my roster?

Your team roster is located on your FIRST Inspires dashboard! You must have 2 coaches assigned to your team that have passed FIRST’s YPP (Youth Protection Program) screening to print!

You can folow a step by step here-

For teams competing this weekend and going forward!

Fundraising for your team

Many of you have booster accounts with us and either have fundraising links set up (through give lively, benevity, etc…)  It is imperative that you make sure your team number gets put on any and all donations we receive whether by check or electronically.  We support over 1000 teams and many of them have booster accounts.  We have No way of knowing a donation from James Smith should go to your team unless they tell us your team number (not your team name or school name or coach name or mentor name or student name or parent name – hopefully you are getting the point) We are a VERY small staff that must do many different tasks to support all teams in the PNW and Washington and when we have to take time to chase down donations, it prevents us from doing other things we need to do to support all of you!   

If your team number is not listed on your donation, you are at risk of those funds not being deposited into your booster account because we just have no way of knowing how to contact the donor or who the funds are for.  Please help us help you by making sure your instructions to your sponsors are clear when it comes to making donations to your FIRST Washington booster account. 

More From FLL

In this weeks Blog-

Challenge-

Kevin’s Robot Corner Tonight!

Events are here! 

How to print a roster

Fundraising for Your Team!

Make sure you read the entire blog!

Our First Weekend of Events is Finally Here!!

Who is excited! I know I am!

I will be running around this weekend stopping in at events to see what your teams have done! Make sure to celebrate how hard they have worked and how much they learned no mater the outcome.

This day is all about them!  

How to Print a Roster!

Every season I get questions from coaches right before events asking how to print their roster! A team roster is required at every event you attend.

If your students are not listed on your roster electronically, you still have to turn one in! You need to hand write their names on and attach a paper consent form signed by a parent or guardian for every event you attend.

Where do I find my roster?

Your team roster is located on your FIRST Inspires dashboard! You must have 2 coaches assigned to your team that have passed FIRST’s YPP (Youth Protection Program) screening to print!

You can folow a step by step here-

Fundraising for your team 

Many of you have booster accounts with us and either have fundraising links set up (through give lively, benevity, etc…)  It is imperative that you make sure your team number gets put on any and all donations we receive whether by check or electronically.  We support over 1000 teams and many of them have booster accounts.  We have No way of knowing a donation from James Smith should go to your team unless they tell us your team number (not your team name or school name or coach name or mentor name or student name or parent name – hopefully you are getting the point) We are a VERY small staff that must do many different tasks to support all teams in the PNW and Washington and when we have to take time to chase down donations, it prevents us from doing other things we need to do to support all of you!   

If your team number is not listed on your donation, you are at risk of those funds not being deposited into your booster account because we just have no way of knowing how to contact the donor or who the funds are for.  Please help us help you by making sure your instructions to your sponsors are clear when it comes to making donations to your FIRST Washington booster account. 

More From FLL

In this weeks Blog-

Challenge-

Waitlist Closed

Payment deadline passed

Name Changes

Are you event ready?

Explore- 

Invoices going out weekly 

Event registration live

Event assignments for paid teams!  

Make sure you read the entire blog!

Waitlist Update!

All teams but 1 have been moved off the waitlist. I have emailed the last team to offer available spots.

The Waitlist is closed for the season!

Thanks for everyones patience !

Payment Deadline!

All teams planning to participate in the FLL Challange SUBMERGED season Qualifier events should be paid. The payment deadline was 11/15.

Are you Event Ready?

If you want to check the status of your team-

Green– All set, Event Ready!

Yellow- Unpaid Invoice, not event ready.

Red– No FIRST Washington registration, no paid invoice, not event ready.

-We are a very small staff, and most, if not all, things are done manually. It takes some time for you to pay, accounting to process it, and them to tell me. I get updates once a day, so if you have paid and don’t see your team listed PLEASE DON’T EMAIL ACCOUNTING. You just slow the process down 🙂

480+ invoices have gone out- if you have filled out the FIRST Washington registration one was most likely send to you! Check your spam/junk folder and look for an email from “Aplos”

Name Changes!

For both FLL Challenge and FLL Explore–

If your name is incorrect on the reports I have posted:

• Challenge Assignments
• Explore Team Status and Assignments

Please fill out this form letting me know the change. All FLL Challenge Changes, and FLL Explore Changes for December events must be completed by Monday 11/25. I will not be accepting changes after 11/25. 

March:

• Snohomish- March 1st
• Yakima- March 15th
• Sammamish- March 8th
• Bonney Lake- March 15th

Useful Contacts-

Program Manager- Jacqueline Grimm jacqueg@firstwa.org

Coach Advisor- Heather Bioren- heatherb@firstwa.org

FLL Head Referee- Kevin Torrico- fllheadreferee@firstwa.org 

Accounting- accounting@firstwa.org

More From FLL