We will not be checking or responding to email during that time.   

We will return emails starting January 5th.   

Have a wonderful holiday and new year!   

Important Dates & Deadlines

• 1-8:  January Coaches Chat 
• 1-12 to 1-25:  Remote Dean’s List Interview Window – Coaches will be emailed in early January re: Dean’s List Interviews 
• 1-17 & 1-18:  Super Qualifying Tournaments 
• 1-31:  State Championship 

FIRST Washington is seeking the community’s opinion on whether to pursue approval as a Career-Technical Student Organization (CTSO) with the State of Washington and OSPI. If your school and/or team could be affected by this decision, we invite you to spend a few minutes letting us know how you might be impacted. For any questions, please reach out to Alida (alidam@firstwa.org). 

https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/7a5a1196d00c45819fdfa2f068014eaa 

Reminder

FIRST Washington’s office is closed for the holidays from 12/24/2025 – 1/2/2026.  If you need any reimbursements from accounting, please get them submitted before 12/24. We will not be responding to emails or processing any reimbursements during this time.

FIRST Washington AI Innovation Video Challenge 

 Did your team explore AI this season? Share your story in a 15–60 second video for the FIRST WA AI Innovation Video Challenge. Top videos will be highlighted across our events and channels. Submit by January 9.  

More info here: https://firstwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/AI-Video-Challenge.pdf 

Important Dates & Deadlines

• 1-8:  January Coaches Chat 
• 1-12 to 1-25:  Remote Dean’s List Interview Window – Coaches will be emailed in early January re: Dean’s List Interviews 
• 1-17 & 1-18:  Super Qualifying Tournaments 
• 1-31:  State Championship 

Coaches we need your help.  We had instances at both FLL and FTC events this past weekend where students were very disrespectful toward the venue, hosts and volunteers.  

In an effort to be more proactive, we would appreciate it if you all have a conversation with your students prior to their event where you go over what it means to be Gracious and Professional and how to behave when you are a guest in someone else’s space.   

Most of our participants are outstanding and are not problematic at all but after the incidents this weekend, we thought a reminder would be helpful. 

Urgent!!  Volunteers still needed this weekend! 

We are still in need of volunteers for our FLL Qualifiers happening in December! We are especially in need of adults to fill judging roles. If you are a coach or mentor, judging at an event other than where your students are competing is an amazing way to learn about the process and how to coach your students on exactly what they need to do in their presentation to judges.  

We also need students in various roles – referee, scorekeeper, queuer, and field reset. This is a great way for students to meet their volunteer hour requirement! Here are the events with the greatest need: 

December 13: Federal Way and Shoreline 

December 14: Federal Way, Shoreline, Tacoma, Oak Harbor, and Olympia 

If you are able to help, click here to find an event near you: Search Event 

Inclement Weather 

With Washington FTC and FLL events happening in various regions of the state, we want to provide guidance for all teams traveling to competitions.  

Our events are expected to proceed as planned this weekend. However, we are always monitoring the weather closely. If it is determined that any of these events needs to be canceled, we will update the information no later than 6:30 AM the morning of your event. All participating teams and volunteers will be notified by email as soon as we are able if there is a change in your event status.   

The safety of our teams and volunteers is our top priority at FIRST Washington. Given the geographic diversity of our region and the variability of weather conditions, we rely on coaches, parents, and school districts to make informed decisions about whether to travel. The decision to hold an event or not is made based on the conditions at the venue as well as the host venue’s school policy.  Teams should always prioritize safety and follow their school district’s or team’s safety policies. Coaches are encouraged to assess weather conditions in their area, prioritize participant safety, and adhere to their school district’s policies (if applicable) when deciding whether to attend a scheduled event.  

Please note that in the event of non-attendance, we are unable to provide an alternative option for non-attending teams. Additionally, if an event is canceled due to inclement weather, we may not be able to reschedule. We understand that this may be a difficult decision for some, but we strongly urge all teams to prioritize student safety above all else.  

In the event your team/you (individual volunteer) are unable to attend, please email the correct contact below –  

• FLL Teams: Email Jacque Grimm at jacqueg@firstwa.org Include your team number in the subject line of the email.  

• FTC Teams: Email Adrienne Collins at acollins@firstwa.org Include your team number in the subject line of the email.  

• Volunteers: Email Rhonda McRae at  rhondam@firstwa.org Include your event in the subject line of your email. 

Event Status report:  https://firstwa.org/competitions/  

Dean’s List Nomination Deadline, Monday Dec 15 at 11:59 pm EST 

Each team can nominate up to 2 students in the 10th or 11th grade as a Dean’s List Semi-Finalist. The deadline to submit this season is December 15th at 11:59 pm EST. Late nominations are not accepted (the portal is thorugh FIRST HQ so Kevin & I don’t have the power to accept late nominations) so don’t wait until the last minute.   

You can find more information on the process here:  https://www.firstinspires.org/resources/library/ftc/deans-list  

Remote interviews will be held between 1-12 and 1-25.  For more information on that process, please look at the slide deck from our November 20th coaches chat and/or the recording 

Advancement from State has been released 

Washington has received 16 advancement spots this season 

• 6 teams from the State Championships will advance to the championship event in Houston 

• 10 teams from the State Championship will be given the opportunity to advance to premier events. 

Results from this past weekend’s events

Our Feynman and Pasteur events happened this past weekend with 8 teams from each event advancing to their respective Super Qualifier.   

You can find event results here:  https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/#allevents  Select Washington as the region and it will filter things down to events within our state. 

Next FTC Coaches Chat is Thursday, January 8th at 7:00 pm

We will be talking about the up coming Super Qualifiers and State as well as doing a high level debrief on the season and how things went. 

To join this meeting click here 

Important Dates & Deadlines

• 1-8:  January Coaches Chat 
• 1-12 to 1-25:  Remote Dean’s List Interview Window – Coaches will be emailed in early January re: Dean’s List Interviews 
• 1-17 & 1-18:  Super Qualifying Tournaments 
• 1-31:  State Championship 

We are still in need of volunteers for our FLL Qualifiers happening in December! We are especially in need of adults to fill judging roles. If you are a coach or mentor, judging at an event other than where your students are competing is an amazing way to learn about the process and how to coach your students on exactly what they need to do in their presentation to judges.  

We also need students in various roles – referee, scorekeeper, queuer, and field reset. This is a great way for students to meet their volunteer hour requirement! Here are the events with the greatest need: 

December 6: Beaver Lake, Everett, Seattle, Spokane, and Wapato 

December 7: Everett, Seattle, Spokane, and Wapato 

December 13: Federal Way and Shoreline 

December 14: Federal Way, Shoreline, Tacoma, Oak Harbor, and Olympia 

If you are able to help, click here to find an event near you: Search Event 

Recording and slides from Nov 20 Coaches Chat posted 

We went over a lot of information about the upcoming events during our November Blog.  As coaches, you are responsible to know this information.  Make sure you look through the slide deck and recording posted on firstwa.org so you don’t miss important information and deadlines!  You can find the slide deck and recording here:  https://firstwa.org/webinars/  

Dean’s List Nomination Deadline, Monday Dec 15 at 11:59 pm EST 

Each team can nominate up to 2 students in the 10th or 11th grade as a Den’s List Semi-Finalist.  The deadline to submit this season is December 15th at 11:59 pm EST.  Late nominations are not accepted (the portal is thorugh FIRST HQ so Kevin & I don’t have the power to accept late nominations) so don’t wait until the last minute.   

You can find more information on the process here:  https://www.firstinspires.org/resources/library/ftc/deans-list  

Remote interviews will be held between 1-12 and 1-25.  For more information on that process, please look at the slide deck from our November 20th coaches chat and/or the recording 

Compass Award Submissions 

Each team may submit a mentor for the Compass Award.  For more information on the Compass Award, please see page 48 of the game manual here:  https://ftc-resources.firstinspires.org/ftc/game/manual  

To submit a mentor for the Compass award, please fill out this form by 5:00 pm January 24th.  the winner will be announced at the FTC State Championship competition January 31. 

All teams are eligible to submit a mentor for the Compass Award, you do not need to be qualified for the State Championship to be considered. 

Upcoming off season FTC events/scrimmages 

East Side Scrimmage 

Hosted by FTC 4054 and FRC 2557 

Saturday, December 6th, 2025 

Venue: East Side Community Center 

1721 E 56th St, Tacoma, WA 98404 

Team Sign Up Form: https://forms.gle/Jm6CZjqS2cCzKgke7 

Description 

The East Side Scrimmage is a one day Demo event for the Tacoma community to learn about FIRST and FIRST Tech Challenge, hosted at the East Side community center. The scrimmage is being hosted with the Teched Out Kids Summit, the event is to allow teams the opportunity to get in drive practice prior to League tournaments the next weekend and display First Tech Challenge to the south Sound community. The event is being coordinated by FTC team 4054 The Gradle Demons and being staffed by FRC team 2557. The event will have Live scoring and will be streamed on the SOTAbots Youtube page 

Contact: sotabots@gmail.com 

Washington Tech Invitational 

Hosted by FTC 14343 and FRC 1899 

Sunday, January 4th, 2026 

Venue: Interlake High School 

Sign up form: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=OUFKmQZ8HkmAmHkAbVdd4NHXAAFxsaVIg0ilxGUobv9UQ1V… 

FTC teams, we invite you to join our Washington Tech Invitational scrimmage with your robot to compete, build teamwork, and prepare for upcoming competition season!  For more info email us at wtiinfo25@gmail.com  

High Definition Invitational 

Hosted by FTC 18225 

Sunday, January 11th, 2026 

Venue: Interlake High School 

Contact Information 

Name: EJ Choi 

Email: ftc18225@gmail.com 

Important Dates & Deadlines

• 1-8:  January Coaches Chat 
• 1-12 to 1-25:  Remote Dean’s List Interview Window – Coaches will be emailed in early January re: Dean’s List Interviews 
• 1-17 & 1-18:  Super Qualifying Tournaments 
• 1-31:  State Championship 

On this meeting, we will be covering several items: 

• How to prepare for your December League Tournaments 

• Judging overview for League Tournaments as well as judging changes for 2025-26 

• Dean’s list submission deadline and interview window. 

Click here to join the meeting  Please make sure to have one adult from your team attend! 

Important Dates & Deadlines

• 1-8:  January Coaches Chat 
• 1-12 to 1-25:  Remote Dean’s List Interview Window – Coaches will be emailed in early January re: Dean’s List Interviews 
• 1-17 & 1-18:  Super Qualifying Tournaments 
• 1-31:  State Championship 

4 league are having their 2nd event this coming weekend. 

•  Please read the email from your League Coordinator (Some League events are at a different venue than the last event or may have a slightly different start time)  
• RSVP to your League Coordinator to confirm that you received the information and do plan to attend (It really helps our League Coordinators plan when they hear from you all) 

 If you are not competing this coming weekend, consider signing up as a volunteer for one of the 4 events that are happening! 

Next FTC Coaches Chat November 20 at 7:00 pm   

On this meeting, we will be focusing on the December League Tournaments and how to best be prepared. 

Click here to join the meeting  Please make sure to have one adult from your team attend! 

FLL Challenge Events are Live and Accepting Volunteers!  

We are excited to announce that Washington FLL Challenge UNEARTHED events are live and accepting volunteer applications. We hope you’ll sign up to volunteer and help make this season a success! FLL Qualifiers are scheduled for December 6, 7, 13, and 14. 

In the UNEARTHED challenge, FIRST LEGO League teams will use creative thinking and LEGO technology to uncover the past and discover the future. 

As we dig into the excitement of this year’s FLL Challenge competitions, your support is essential. To ensure all students can participate in a local competition, we will host 27 events around the state of Washington! But these events don’t materialize out of thin air. They require the commitment of over 900 passionate volunteers! 

So don’t hesitate to join the fun! We need help in various roles, from refereeing, judging, scorekeeping, and more. 

Volunteer needs 

• Judges (minimum 18 y.o.) 

• Referees (minimum 16 y.o.) 

• Scorekeepers (minimum 18 y.o./post high school) 

• Field Resetters (minimum 15 y.o.) 

• Queuers (minimum 15 y.o.) 

 Click here to see a list of events: FLL CALENDAR 

Click here to Register for events: REGISTER 

Important Dates & Deadlines

• 1-8:  January Coaches Chat 
• 1-12 to 1-25:  Remote Dean’s List Interview Window – Coaches will be emailed in early January re: Dean’s List Interviews 
• 1-17 & 1-18:  Super Qualifying Tournaments 
• 1-31:  State Championship