2nd round of preferencing is open until 9 am Thursday, Oct 22

The second round of preferencing is now open.  This is your opportunity to preference for your 2nd event (During the first round, even if you picked 2 events, you were only placed in 1 event).  Same process as last time, you will have until 9 am Thursday to submit your preferences and selections will be released on Friday, October 23. 

I strongly recommend you submit your preference selections by Thursday October 22nd just to make sure everything gets submitted in time. 

Some teams will end up on the waitlist.  You will hear from me on Friday with your options if you do. 

If you haven’t yet done so, select your kickoff event! 

All teams need to make a kickoff selection so FIRST knows how to get them thier kit.  Please do this now if you haven’t already done it. 

Oregon teams:  The issue with the Corvallis event was that it filled up because the capacity wasn’t changed with our new plan.  If you weren’t able to select it/couldn’t find it yesterday, go back in today and give it a try. 

MySite:  If you select to have your kit shipped to you, you are a MySite  Please understand, you kit will not be shipped until after kickoff.  Make sure this is the choice you want, once you go through the check out process, you cannot change it. 

Coaches Chat next Thursday at 7:00 pm 

Our October Coaches Chat is scheduled for next Thursday at 7:00 pm.  Please make sure to have one adult from your team attend.   

To join the meeting click here 

Important Dates

10-15: Second preferencing window opens 

10-22: Second preferencing window closes 

10-25 & 26: Block Party 

10-29: FRC Coaches Chat 

10-29: Unrestricted Regional and additional in district registration opens 

11-5: Inter district registration opens 

12-19:  Bunny Bots 

2nd round of preferencing opens at 9 am tomorrow

The second round of preferencing will open at 9 am tomorrow.  This is your opportunity to preference for your 2nd event.  Same process as last time, you will have until 9 am next Thursday to submit your preferences and selections will be released on Friday, October 23. 

I strongly recommend you submit your preference selections by Thursday October 22nd just to make sure everything gets submitted in time. 

All teams that selected preferences should be in an event 

All teams that were on a waitlist last Friday have been moved into events 

The next preferencing window opens at 10-15 at 9:00 am.  I recommend you don’t make any coaching changes on your dashboard until after the preferencing window has closed so it doesn’t affect your ability to get into your second preference. 

UW Mentorship Program 

FIRST Washington has an ongoing partnership with the University of Washington called the UW Mentorship Program. With this program, FTC and FRC teams are matched with students from the UW Electrical and Computer Engineering program who provide technical mentorship. These mentors volunteer between 2-5 hours per week and receive college credit for their work. The program runs on a quarterly basis. 

We are currently looking for teams outside the immediate Seattle area open to remote mentorship via an app like Zoom or Teams. One of the goals of this program is to expand the reach of mentors with programming, computer vision, and CAD experience to teams in areas where these skills can be more difficult to find. 

If this program sounds like a good fit for your team, let us know more information about your meeting dates and team needs by filling out this form so we can best match you to a mentor! 

Thank you! 

Alida Mendes MacCracken 

alidam@firstwa.org 

Important Dates

10-15: Second preferencing window opens 

10-17 & 18: WA Girls Gen 

10-25 & 26: Block Party 

10-29: FRC Coaches Chat 

10-29: Unrestricted Regional and additional in district registration opens 

11-5: Inter district registration opens 

12-19:  Bunny Bots 

FIRST Washington Grant closes today at 5:00 pm 

If you are interested in any funding from FIRST Washington this season, you need to fill out this grant form.   

A few things to remember: 

• You will have to fill out a grant application to be considered for any funding that FIRST Washington manages  

• The grant form will need to be filled out for each team you would like to be considered for funding  

• Grants will no longer be deducted from your FIRST Washington registration, they will be issued separately based on the info you submit in the grant application as well as your school requirements (if you are a school based team)  

If you have already filled out a grant application- please check to make sure you have hit the submit button and not just saved it. If it is not submitted, it will not be accepted!  There are several grants that are showing as saved and not submitted so please take just a minute to check.  

All teams that selected preferences should be in an event 

All teams that were on a waitlist last Friday have been moved into events 

The next preferencing window opens at 10-15 at 9:00 am.  I recommend you don’t make any coaching changes on your dashboard until after the preferencing window has closed so it doesn’t affect your ability to get into your second preference. 

Important Dates 

Now:  FIRST Washington Registration is Open 

Now: FIRST Washington Grant is open 

10-5: FIRST Washington Grant closes 

10-10 & 11: Bordie Blast Through Time 

10-15: Second preferencing window opens 

10-17 & 18: WA Girls Gen 

10-25 & 26: Block Party 

10-29: FRC Coaches Chat 

10-29: Unrestricted Regional and additional in district registration opens 

11-5: Inter district registration opens 

12-19:  Bunny Bots 

FRC Coaches Chat slides and recording are posted on firstwa.org 

If you missed last Thursday’s coaches chat.  You can access the slides and recording here:  https://firstwa.org/webinars/  

The first preferencing window closes Thursday, 10-1 at 9:00 am 

Make sure you are event ready: 

The FIRST Event Preferencing window opens next Thursday at 9:00 am.  You need to be Event Ready in order to submit your preferences.   Don’t wait, log in now to make sure you are Event Ready! 

To make things easier, I have posted a report that shows who has registered with FIRST Washington and who is event ready.  This report is updated manually once a day, it will not update dynamically.  Click here to see the report. 

How do I submit my preferences? 

You can find the FIRST preferencing guide along with an FAQ here:  https://www.firstinspires.org/resources/library/frc/event-preferencing  

We gave a live demonstration on how to preference on Thursday so if you want to see how it is done, check out the recording. 

FIRST Washington Grant closes Monday, October 5 at 5:00 pm 

FIRST Washington Grant is open.  You can find past communications regarding funding and the link to the grant application here:  https://firstwa.org/firstwa-grant/   

Remember: 

• You will have to fill out a grant application to be considered for any funding that FIRST Washington manages 

• The grant form will need to be filled out for each team you would like to be considered for funding 

• Grants will no longer be deducted from your FIRST Washington registration, they will be issued separately based on the info you submit in the grant application as well as your school requirements (if you are a school based team) 

Now:  FIRST Washington Registration is Open 

Now: FIRST Washington Grant is open 

9-30: AIAA Classroom Grant Application Closes 

10-3: OR Girls Gen 

10-4: FIRST Chance 

10-5: FIRST Washington Grant closes 

10-10 & 11: Bordie Blast Through Time 

10-15: Second preferencing window opens 

10-17 & 18: WA Girls Gen 

10-25 & 26: Block Party 

10-29: Unrestricted Regional and additional in district registration opens 

11-5: Inter district registration opens 

12-19:   Bunny Bots 

First FRC Coaches Chat of the season is this Thursday 

We will be having our first FRC coaches chat of the season this Thursday, Sept 24 at 7:00 pm.   

On that chat we will review the process for event preferencing which also opens next Thursday.   

We will also give a high-level overview of what the season looks like this year.   

Please make sure to have one adult attend this meeting.  

Click here to log on 

The first preferencing window opens Thursday, 9-24 at 9:00 am 

Make sure you are event ready: 

The FIRST Event Preferencing window opens next Thursday at 9:00 am.  You need to be Event Ready in order to submit your preferences.   Don’t wait, log in now to make sure you are Event Ready! 

To make things easier, I have posted a report that shows who has registered with FIRST Washington and who is event ready.  This report is updated manually once a day, it will not update dynamically.  Click here to see the report. 

How do I submit my preferences? 

You can find the FIRST preferencing guide along with an FAQ here:  https://www.firstinspires.org/resources/library/frc/event-preferencing  

We will be giving a live demonstration on how to preference on Thursday during our coaches chat so if you need more of a reminder, tune in! 

Now:  FIRST Washington Registration is Open 

Now: FIRST Washington Grant is open 

9-24: Coaches Chat 

9-24: First preferencing window opens 

9-25: Online Metals Sponsorship Application Closes 

9-30: AIAA Classroom Grant Application Closes 

10-3: OR Girls Gen 

10-4: FIRST Chance 

10-5: FIRST Washington Grant closes 

10-10 & 11: Bordie Blast Through Time 

10-15: Second preferencing window opens 

10-17 & 18: WA Girls Gen 

10-25 & 26: Block Party 

10-29: Unrestricted Regional and additional in district registration opens 

11-5: Inter district registration opens 

First FRC Coaches Chat of the season is next week 

We will be having our first FRC coaches chat of the season next Thursday, Sept 24 at 7:00 pm.  On that chat we will review the process for event preferencing which also opens next Thursday.  We will also give a high level overview of what the season looks like this year.   

Please make sure to have one adult attend this meeting.  

Click here to log on 

Grant Opportunities for Teams 

FIRST Washington Grant 

FIRST Washington Grant is open.  You can find past communications regarding funding and the link to the grant application here:  https://firstwa.org/firstwa-grant/   

Remember: 

• You will have to fill out a grant application to be considered for any funding that FIRST Washington manages 

• The grant form will need to be filled out for each team you would like to be considered for funding 

• Grants will no longer be deducted from your FIRST Washington registration, they will be issued separately based on the info you submit in the grant application as well as your school requirements (if you are a school based team) 

Online Metals 

Applications Open: September 1, 2026 

The wait is over! Applications for the 2026–2027 Online Metals Sponsorship Program are officially open! 
 
Eligible high school and college/university and affiliated robotics teams competing in official competitions across the U.S. and Canada are invited to apply for sponsorship support. Tell them about your team, your competition goals, and how Online Metals can help you bring your robot to life. 
 
Don’t miss your chance to be considered for the upcoming season! Submit your application during the open window.  We met with the local team from Online Metals last week and they are excited to expand their support in the PNW! 

Sponsorships | OnlineMetals.com® 

AIAA School Grants 

AIAA School Grants are open until Sept 30th- I don’t know much about these but it seems worth checking out! 

Classroom Grants | AIAA 

The AIAA Foundation believes that one of the most significant means to inspire and advance the future of Aerospace is to fund grants to meet the unmet and unfunded educational need of students. Each school year, AIAA awards grants of up to $500 to worthy projects that significantly influence student learning. 

Make sure you are Event Ready 

The FIRST Event Preferencing window opens next Thursday at 9:00 am.  You need to be Event Ready in order to submit your preferences.  Currently just over half of our teams are listed as Event Ready.  Don’t wait, log in now to make sure you are Event Ready! 

To make things easier, I have posted a report that shows who has registered with FIRST Washington and who is event ready.  This report is updated manually once a day, it will not update dynamically.  Click here to see the report. 

Now:   FIRST Washington Registration is Open 

Now: FIRST Washington Grant is open 

9-24: Coaches Chat 

9-24: First preferencing window opens 

9-25:  Online Metals Sponsorship Application Closes 

9-30: AIAA Classroom Grant Application Closes 

10-3: OR Girls Gen 

10-4: FIRST Chance 

10-5: FIRST Washington Grant closes 

10-10 & 11: Bordie Blast Through Time 

10-15: Second preferencing window opens 

10-17 & 18: WA Girls Gen 

10-25 & 26: Block Party 

10-29: Unrestricted Regional and additional in district registration opens 

11-5: Inter district registration opens