PNW Social & Potluck 

PNW FRC Coaches and Mentors, 

You and the mentors on your team are invited to attend the PNW FRC Mentor Social & Potluck on Saturday, August 15, beginning at 1:00 PM at the FIRSTWA Fieldhouse in Kent (22426 72nd Ave S, Kent, WA 98032). 

During the build season, it’s easy for teams and mentors to become somewhat siloed, and competitions don’t always provide the best opportunity to make meaningful connections. My hope is that this gathering will offer a relaxed environment for mentors and coaches to connect with others who share a passion for FIRST Robotics. 

If you plan to attend, please sign up using this Google form. 

For the potluck, please consider bringing an item based on the first letter of your last name: 

• Appetizer or Snack: A–N
• Dessert: O–Z

Don’t hesitate to attend even if you’re unable to bring something. 

Please share this invitation with the mentors on your FRC team. Water and soda will be provided, and attendees are welcome to bring their preferred alcoholic beverages as well. A few large ice coolers will be available. Because alcohol will be present, this event is limited to mentors and coaches who are 21 years of age or older. 

There is interest in reviving the mentor roundtables that were last held in 2019. We will take a few minutes during the social to discuss ideas and begin planning for future mentor roundtable events. 

If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to reach out to me. 

Regards, 

Darren Collins 
FRC 2046 
Cell: 206-854-0630 

Alberta KDays FRC Off-season event 

Howdy teams from your northern western neighbours in Canada! 

 With the 2026 season now mostly being all wrapped up, I’d like to delay the wrap up of the season just a bit more to invite ya’ll to come out to our KDays off-season event, in Edmonton, Alberta from July 17th to the 19th! 

A Quick summary of the event 

KDays is a 10 day long festival in Edmonton Alberta. With live music, many amusement rides, and some very interesting snack selections, it’s a fun time for all who attend! 

Our off-season event happens on the grounds for the public to bear witness to our metal masterpieces! With a full field provided by FIRST Canada we’re expecting to show all who come out a good time!  

 Alongside our 2 day FRC event, we will be running an FLL event as well! So it’ll be back to back robotics action! 

 Robot registration – Now open! 

Registration is open now. $750 per team. If you’re a larger organization wanting to bring out multiple robots, additional robots will be $250. Mentorbot, or rookie bot, we’ll be happy to have ya! If we hit 16 registered orgs an event limited shirt will be made to commemorate the occasion! 

 Registration can be found here: 

FIRST Robotics Competition – FIRST Alberta @ KDays 

 Volunteers – Always needed 

Volunteers are always needed so if you know anyone that would be interested, please have them email me with a position they would like to fill! 

 If you have any questions, my inbox is always open (and yes, regional directors dream of answering emails) 

 Hope to see ya’ll there! 

Aaron Williams 

FIRST Robotics Competition Program Director (in-training) 

FIRST Robotics Competition Team 3560 Alum 

Important Dates

Congratulations to all on an amazing season! 

I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate all teams on a phenomenal season!  This was a fun game to watch and also (in my opinion) a hard challenge for teams.   

I love the comradery we have in the PNW and I’m always reminded of just how unique that is when I head to Houston for championships.  We not only produce competitive teams in the PNW; we also produce gracious, kind, helpful teams as well as dedicated amazing volunteers.   

It takes a village to inspire the next generation of STEM Leaders and innovators, and I’m glad you are all part of my village! 

Seattle Pride Parade

MI Robotics is happy to host the Students of FIRST Washington contingent of the Seattle Pride Parade 2026! See below for sign-up information. Detailed marching information to come in June. Please reach out to Alida at alida.m.mendes@gmail.com for any questions. We hope to see you there!

Important Dates

Our District Championship/Championship Briefing was last Tuesday

Any team attending District Championships needs to know the information in the District Championship briefing.  If you missed the briefing, you can find the recording here:  https://firstwa.org/webinars/  

Qualifying and registering for District Championships 

Unless your team has won the Impact award weeks 1-3, teams will be qualifying for District Championships after our week 4 events conclude this weekend.  Here is what you need to know: 

• On Sunday night (March 29) Qualified teams will receive an email from me asking you to fill out both the FIRST registration and FIRST Washington registration forms for District Championships.  FIRST Washington registration must be filled out by 3 pm on Tuesday, March 31st 

• Teams that have mathematically qualified after week 3 events have already received this email from me.  You can register with FIRST Washington now but will need to register with FIRST next week when you receive the email from them. 

• If you have concerns about being able to attend, or feel you can’t attend, please reach out to me right away  acollins@firstwa.org  

• On either Sunday or Monday (March 29/30) you will receive an email from FIRST to register for District Championships, follow their instructions. 

• On Wednesday morning (April 1)  One mentor (the one you designate as the mentor to receive the invoice) will receive an invoice.  If anyone else needs a copy of that invoice, please ask the designated mentor to forward it to them. 

• That invoice needs to be secured by 5:00 pm Thursday, April 2 

• On Wednesday (April 1) you will also receive a link from me to preference for your load in time.  The load in schedule will be posted on the event page here:  https://firstwa.org/frc-dcmp-event/ by 5:00 pm on Thursday. 

Some of you are on spring break next week.  Make sure to check your email if you are!  We will make every effort to get ahold of you but if we can’t reach you and you miss the registration deadline, we will offer your spot to the next team on the list. 

Important Dates

Critical field safety reminders that all coaches should read and share with their participants. 

We love, love, LOVE that so many teams are able to build a practice field that they share with other teams.  It is one of the many ways our community supports each other, HOWEVER, it is starting to have a negative impact on safety at our competitions especially when it comes to students stepping over the field perimeter. 

Participants must use the gates to enter and exit the field.  It is in the rules (See G102 & G211) and your team can receive a card from the Head Referee if you break it!  We would love for our practice field hosts to follow this same rule, HOWEVER, regardless of the rule at the practice field, you may not step over the side wall at a competition!  Please make sure your students and mentors know this; we want to keep them safe. 

Our District Championship/Championship Briefing scheduled for this Tuesday, March 17 at 7:00 pm

We will be going over high level event information for our District Championship event as well as Championships in Houston.  More detailed information will be sent to registered teams after week 4 events have been completed and all teams have registered. 

If you believe you may qualify for District Championships, I strongly recommend you plan to attend this briefing. 

I know the registration window falls during spring break for some teams so please be prepared to register for the event and secure your registration even if your school is on spring break. 

Click here to attend this meeting.   

Interest survey for an off season in the Palouse area during the summer 

Several entities on the Palouse are exploring the possibility of hosting an off-season event in Pullman, and we’d love your input as we consider whether this idea is worth pursuing. Please take a moment to complete the short survey below to help us understand your level of interest. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlpMUyH1hVzduFepgzt4eqWcc7_PBH0PJkkxIJWw3V-ZU5BQ/viewform?usp=dialog 

Thank you for your time and insight! 

Important Dates

Our District Championship/Championship Briefing scheduled for next Tuesday, March 17 at 7:00 pm

We will be going over high level event information for our District Championship event as well as Championships in Houston.  More detailed information will be sent to registered teams after week 4 events have been completed and all teams have registered. 

If you believe you may qualify for District Championships, I strongly recommend you plan to attend this briefing. 

I know the registration window falls during spring break for some teams so please be prepared to register for the event and secure your registration even if your school is on spring break. 

Click here to attend this meeting.   

Site Specific Information 

Expect to receive an email from us with event specific information on Wednesday 2 weeks before your event loads in. 

We will also update the event page with information as we receive it from the site.  You can find a list of events on our website here:  https://firstwa.org/competitions/  

Important Dates

Our District Event Briefing was last Thursday, Feb 12 at 7:00 pm

If you missed the briefing, you can find the slides and recording on our website here:  https://firstwa.org/webinars/  

Yes, much of this info is the same from year to year, but we will be going over some new information, so please take the time to look over the slide deck.   

Quiet rooms at events 

Right now, only 1 event has a quiet room:  Auburn High School.  While we send quiet room materials on the truck to each event, we rely on teams to staff and manage the quiet rooms at the events.  If we do not have teams volunteer to host the quiet room and coordinate the volunteers, we will not be having quiet rooms again this year.   

If you are interested in hosting the quiet room at an event, please fill out this form by this Friday, February 21.   

Accommodations at events

One last reminder for the season, if you need an event accommodation please fill out this form.  We will make every effort to accommodate your request.  The sooner we know about a need, the more likely we will be able to meet that need at our events.   

Site Specific Information 

Site specific information was emailed to the Lead and Alternate contacts for our week 1 events this morning.  Expect to receive an email from us with event specific information on Wednesday 2 weeks before your event loads in. 

We will also update the event page with information as we receive it from the site.  You can find a list of events on our website here:  https://firstwa.org/competitions/  

Important Dates