Semifinal Competitions are This Weekend! 

The Asimov and Capek Semi-Finals will be held at Tahoma High School in Maple Valley this weekend (Jan 11/12).  

The events are open to the public so even if your team is not competing, feel free to stop by and check out the competitions.  

We will also be streaming the competitions.  You can view them via the buttons below: 

Compass Award Submissions

All teams are eligible to submit for the Compass award whether they are moving on to the State Championship or not.   

For more information on the requirements for submitting for the compass award, see the game manual here:  https://ftc-resources.firstinspires.org/file/ftc/game/manual-06  

You can submit for the Compass award by filling out this form.  The deadline for submission is Friday, January 24th.  No late submissions will be accepted. 

We Want Your Feedback! 

FIRST Washington strives to support coaches in building sustainable and supported teams. We’d love to hear from you how we’re doing.

Please take time to fill out THIS SURVEY to let us know how this season is going and how you feel about your team’s sustainability. The survey is anonymous and will not collect your name/email or team number. All questions are optional, and any that you complete will help. Thank you for supporting an improved experience for all teams! 

Dean’s List Interviews will take place Remotely via Teams January 13 – 26

Dean’s List nominations are closed! Coaches! If you nominated a student(s), you should have received an email with their interview time(s)/date(s). It’s your responsibility to share that information with your student(s). We are not granted access to contact information for nominees, so it has to come from one of the two primary coaches. 

If you nominated a student(s) and have not received the interview schedule, search your inbox and spam folder for an email from FTC and FRC Program & Mentor Support Alida Mendes McCracken – alidam@firstwa.org.  

 Below are some tips for interviewers to keep in mind. Please do not reach out to your Program Director with questions about Dean’s List! : ) 

• Interviews will be no less than 6 minutes and no longer than 15 minutes per student
• Students will be interviewed remotely by a panel of 3 interviewers
• All students should have 1 adult (coach, mentor, parent, guardian, etc.) present for the interview. They can either be in the physical room with the student, or they can log on to the Teams chat via the remote meeting link. If you are having an adult tune in to the meeting via the link, please only have one adult join. Adding lots of extra attendees to the meeting remotely can slow down the interviewing process.
• If there is no adult present with the student (either in their room physically or in the Teams meeting remotely) the student cannot be interviewed.

Important Dates & Deadlines

• Open Now:  FIRST Washington Registration
• 10-8:  League preferencing window closes 
• 10-10:  Final league assignments posted 
• 10-16:  FTC Coaches Chat 
• 11-20:  FTC Coaches Chat 

Reminders to teams participating this weekend 

Coaches should be receiving emails with specifics on your Interleauge event, but I wanted to give some general reminders here:

• You must bring your team roster and signed consent forms to your Interleague. These are required by FIRST HQ for every event that your team attends. The events will not have the ability to print these for you so you must print them off ahead of time and turn them in when you check in your team.
• Please bring safety glasses for your students, mentors and spectators. Safety glasses should be worn around the field area as well as in the pits.
• Bring an extension cord and power strip so your team can tie into the power available in the pit area.
• Reminder, this is an all day event where judging happens in the morning. You may want to tell spectators come either when matches start or after lunchtime, there won’t be much for them to see in the morning.
• Please do not arrive early. You will not be allowed to enter the building early even if the weather is bad. Our volunteers are busy getting the event set up and ready for you – they have a very limited window to prep the venue, so please give them the time and space they need! 

Next FTC Coaches Chat, Tuesday, December 17 at 7:00 pm 

Our next coaches chat is scheduled for Tuesday, December 17th at 7:00 pm.  Coaches chats are an opportunity for use to share important information with all of you as well as help you connect with other coaches.  We recommend each team have one coach attend.  Click here for meeting link. 

Last Call – Dean’s List Nominations are Due December 15th 

We will once again be having remote Dean’s List Interviews in January (More info on the Interview window will be sent to coaches after submissions close in December)

Lead and Alternate Coaches can nominate their students from their firstinspires dashboard until December 15th.

Don’t wait until the last minute, get your nominations in today.

After Your Season is Over? Volunteer at Events!

For many of you, your competition season will end after your Interleague event. But that doesn’t need to be the end of your FIRST. A fantastic way to improve your team is to volunteer at an event!

If you are a coach, judging at an event (for any program) can help you understand the judging process and how to direct your students to be stronger in the judging room.

Students can learn a lot from watching other robots and connecting with students from other teams.

We have 3 events after the first of the year. 2 Semi Final events in Maple Valley (Jan 11 & 12) and State in Seattle (Feb 1) Please consider signing up as a volunteer to support those events!

If there is an FLL or FTC event in your school district and your team isn’t already supporting it, please consider mobilizing your team to help out! We understand this time of year is busy, but many of our FLL and FTC hosts depend on fellow FIRST teams to help fulfill volunteer roles.

You can always reach out to us if you want more guidence about how to help out. Email Mara Kealey at marak@firstwa.org.

Volunteer Roles Needed: FTC

• Judges
• Scoring Referees
• Queuers
• Field Resetters
• Scorekeepers

Volunteer Roles Needed: FLL

• Judges
• Referees
• Queuers
• Field Resetters
• Scorekeepers

Important Dates & Deadlines

• Open Now:  FIRST Washington Registration
• 10-8:  League preferencing window closes 
• 10-10:  Final league assignments posted 
• 10-16:  FTC Coaches Chat 
• 11-20:  FTC Coaches Chat 

Turing League Meet 2 AND Spencer League Meet 2 are RESCHEDULED for December 8th

We appreciate all the teams in these Leagues for their patience as we work to reschedule events postponed by extreme weather.

Turnig League Meet 2 will take place on December 8th – All event details besides the date change (location, time. participating teams, etc.) remain the same.

Spencer League Meet 2 has also been rescehduled for December 8th – All event details besides the date change (location, time. participating teams, etc.) remain the same.

We understand notification of the Spencer LM2 reschedule is short notice, but the school district was out of power and unreachable (due to the holiday) until yesterday.

If you are a team participating in either of these events, please reach out to your League Host.

Next FTC Coaches Chat, Tuesday, December 17 at 7:00 pm 

Our next coaches chat is scheduled for Tuesday, December 17th at 7:00 pm.  Coaches chats are an opportunity for use to share important information with all of you as well as help you connect with other coaches.  We recommend each team have one coach attend.  Click here for meeting link. 

Dean’s List Nominations are Due December 15th 

We will once again be having remote Dean’s List Interviews in January (More info on the Interview window will be sent to coaches after nominations close in December)

Lead and Alternate Coaches can nominate their students from their firstinspires dashboard until December 15th.

Don’t wait until the last minute, get your nominations in today.

General Interleague Event Info 

Coaches should be receiving emails with specifics on your Interleauge event, but I wanted to give some general reminders here: 

• You must bring your team roster and signed consent forms to your Interleague.  These are required by FIRST HQ for every event that your team attends.  The events will not have the ability to print these for you so you must print them off ahead of time and turn them in when you check in your team. 
• Please bring safety glasses for your students, mentors and spectators.  Safety glasses should be worn around the field area as well as in the pits. 
• Bring an extension cord and power strip so your team can tie into the power available in the pit area. 
• Reminder, this is an all day event where judging happens in the morning. You may want to tell spectators come either when matches start or after lunchtime, there won’t be much for them to see in the morning. 

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.

We Want Your Feedback! 

FIRST Washington strives to support coaches in building sustainable and supported teams. We’d love to hear from you how we’re doing. Please take time to fill out the survey below to let us know how this season is going and how you feel about your team’s sustainability.

The survey is anonymous and will not collect your name/email or team number. All questions are optional, and any that you complete will help. Thank you for supporting an improved experience for all teams! 

Volunteer with FTC or FLL!

We have 27 FTC and FLL Challenge events in December alone, and we need over 1,400 volunteers to run them! Please organize your team to register today! Volunteering at FLL and FTC events is NUMBER ONE way your team can support FIRST growth in your community, and you’ll have a blast doing it! 

For coaches and mentors, Judging (at events your team is NOT competing at) is a great way to learn about the judging process.

And for FTC students, volunteering in any role is a great way to work towards any service hour requirements for graduation.

If there is an FLL or FTC event in your school district and your team isn’t already supporting it, please consider mobilizing your team to help out! We understand this time of year is busy, but many of our FLL and FTC hosts depend on FRC teams to help fulfill volunteer roles.

You can always reach out to us if you want more guidence about how to help out. Email Mara Kealey at marak@firstwa.org.

Volunteer Roles Needed: (both programs)

• Referees
• Judges
• Queuers
• Field Resetters
• Scorekeepers

Important Dates & Deadlines

• Open Now:  FIRST Washington Registration
• 10-8:  League preferencing window closes 
• 10-10:  Final league assignments posted 
• 10-16:  FTC Coaches Chat 
• 11-20:  FTC Coaches Chat 

Last weeks coaches chat posted on the firstwa website 

Last weeks coaches chat has been posted here on the firstwa.org Webinars page.  The focus was on the upcoming Interleague events and what to expect.  If you missed the coaches chat, make sure to look through the slides and watch the recording so you can be prepared for your Interleague Championship event. 

Dean’s List Nominations are Due December 15th 

We will once again be having remote Dean’s List Interviews in January (More info on the Interview window will be sent to coaches after nominations close in December)

Lead and Alternate Coaches can nominate their students from their firstinspires dashboard until December 15th.

Don’t wait until the last minute, get your nominations in today.

Volunteer with FTC or FLL!

We have 27 FTC and FLL Challenge events in December alone, and we need over 1,400 volunteers to run them! Please organize your team to register today! Volunteering at FLL and FTC events is NUMBER ONE way your team can support FIRST growth in your community, and you’ll have a blast doing it! 

For coaches and mentors, Judging (at events your team is NOT competing at) is a great way to learn about the judging process.

And for FTC students, volunteering in any role is a great way to work towards any service hour requirements for graduation.

If there is an FLL or FTC event in your school district and your team isn’t already supporting it, please consider mobilizing your team to help out! We understand this time of year is busy, but many of our FLL and FTC hosts depend on FRC teams to help fulfill volunteer roles.

You can always reach out to us if you want more guidence about how to help out. Email Mara Kealey at marak@firstwa.org.

Volunteer Roles Needed: (both programs)

• Referees
• Judges
• Queuers
• Field Resetters
• Scorekeepers

Important Dates & Deadlines

• Open Now:  FIRST Washington Registration
• 10-8:  League preferencing window closes 
• 10-10:  Final league assignments posted 
• 10-16:  FTC Coaches Chat 
• 11-20:  FTC Coaches Chat 

Next FTC Coaches Chat is Tuesday, November 19 at 7:00 pm 

Our next coaches chat is scheduled for Tuesday, November 15 at 7:00 pm.  Coaches chats are an opportunity for use to share important information with all of you as well as help you connect with other coaches.  We recommend each team have one coach attend.  Click here for meeting link.

We will be focusing on the Interleague events during this meeting.

Dean’s List Nominations are Due December 15th 

We will once again be having remote Dean’s List Interviews in January (More info on the Interview window will be sent to coaches after nominations close in December)

Lead and Alternate Coaches can nominate their students from their firstinspires dashboard until December 15th.

Don’t wait until the last minute, get your nominations in today.

Event Results

Since all leagues have now had their first event, I wanted to point out where to go to see event results and rankings.  You can find them here:  https://ftc-events.firstinspires.org/#allevents 

Go to the week your event was held and select your league for results. 

Volunteer with FTC or FLL!

We have 27 FTC and FLL Challenge events in December alone, and we need over 1,400 volunteers to run them! Please organize your team to register today! Volunteering at FLL and FTC events is NUMBER ONE way your team can support FIRST growth in your community, and you’ll have a blast doing it! 

For coaches and mentors, Judging (at events your team is NOT competing at) is a great way to learn about the judging process.

And for FTC students, volunteering in any role is a great way to work towards any service hour requirements for graduation.

If there is an FLL or FTC event in your school district and your team isn’t already supporting it, please consider mobilizing your team to help out! We understand this time of year is busy, but many of our FLL and FTC hosts depend on FRC teams to help fulfill volunteer roles.

You can always reach out to us if you want more guidence about how to help out. Email Mara Kealey at marak@firstwa.org.

Volunteer Roles Needed: (both programs)

• Referees
• Judges
• Queuers
• Field Resetters
• Scorekeepers

Important Dates & Deadlines

• Open Now:  FIRST Washington Registration
• 10-8:  League preferencing window closes 
• 10-10:  Final league assignments posted 
• 10-16:  FTC Coaches Chat 
• 11-20:  FTC Coaches Chat