FRC REBUILT Blog: Volume 3

Block Party has been cancelled

    If you are planning to attend an off season event, register now before more events are cancelled due to low attendance! 

     

    Off-Season Event Registration  

    Looking for a fun way to have new members experience an event, try out a new mechanism, or network with other teams? Register to attend an off-season event this fall! 

    Off-season events are hosted and run by individual FRC teams, not FIRST Washington. This means each event’s participation requirement(s), fees, and timelines may vary. All events will utilize the Reefscape game. 

    Block Party hosted by Team 2910 – Sept 6 & 7 – event cancelled due to low registration numbers 

     

    Oregon Girls’ Generation / FIRST Chance hosted by Team 1425 – Oct 4 & 5 

    Oregon Girls’ Gen is a girl-focused event, run as a one-day competition. Oregon FIRST Chance is a one-day event for all students and aimed at providing an opportunity for students new to FRC to attend a pre-season event.

    Location: Wilsonville High School in Wilsonville, OR

    Registration information coming soon!

    For questions, contact Tom Sommerville Jr at tom.sommerville@gmail.com

     

    Uplift Challenge hosted by Teams 4125 and 8532 – Oct 10 & 11 

    Save the date for the Uplift Challenge! This off-season event is open to teams in schools of 500 students and below. Teams in small schools have unique challenges and strengths. This is a chance for us to come together, share ideas, learn about new resources- and of course, have an-off season competition.

    Location: Umatilla, OR

    Fee: $100

    Register for Uplift Challenge

    For questions, contact Heidi Sipe at sipeh@umatillasd.org

     

    2025 Bordie Blast: Bordie at Sea hosted by Team 2412 – Oct 11 & 12 

    Load-in Friday Oct 10th

    Location: Sammamish High School in Bellevue, WA

    Fee: $300 (additional $100 for a second robot if space permits)

    Register for Bordie at Sea

    Volunteer sign-up form

    Event Website

    For questions, contact Kim Herzog at HerzogK@bsd405.org

     

    Washington Girls’ Generation hosted by Team 2046 – Oct 18 & 19

    The goal for Girls’ Generation is to provide an inclusive experience for underrepresented communities in STEM. In that spirit, we welcome all to participate.

    Optional load-in Friday Oct 17th

    Location: Tahoma Senior High School in Maple Valley, WA

    Fee: $300

    Register for WA Girls’ Gen

    Volunteer sign-up form

    Event Website

    For questions, contact Darren Collins at dcollins@tahomasd.us

     

    StormSurge hosted by Teams 2811 and 9567 – Oct 25

    Location: Skyview High School in Vancouver, WA

    Fee: $250 (one robot), $350 (two robots)

    Register for StormSurge

    For questions, contact Luke Glassett at lukeglassett@gmail.com

     

    Annual Bunnybots OR and WA 

    2nd Annual Bunnybots WA- hosted by team 3218

    • Location: Bonney Lake HS
    • Contest date: Dec 20th, 7:30 am – 5:00 pm
    • 1-day contest
    • load in 7:30-9:30
    • 1st matches at 10 am
    • email jason_vander_hoek@sumnersd.org 
    This will be a new robot, built with recycled parts.
    contest rules based on typical FRC rules
    Rules released Sept 1. https://www.frc3218.org/bunnybots

    Annual Bunnybots OR

    • Contest date: Dec 13th
    Both contests will cost $150 per bot. and have room for about 20 bots.
    Here is footage from last year’s game

     

      PNW FRC Registration is open! 

      PNW FRC registration is open.  For those of you who have already registered, THANK YOU!!  For those who haven’t, please take a moment to register if your team plans to participate this year.  For FRC teams, this is the best way for us to know you plan to participate prior to when team preferencing ends the beginning of October. 

      This form also gives you access to the FIRST Washington Registration grants that are used to lower your registration. 

      Just a reminder that the District Championship fees have been decoupled from the season registration fees so the season registration fee is now $11,800.  Teams that qualify for District Championship will be charged an additional $4000.  We hope to have some funding available to defray the District Championship registration grants. 

      Registration form link:  https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/3913797ab2d24190ae51da675f49b3b5  

      Important Dates

      FTC DECODE Blog: Volume 3

      Register now if you plan to attend a kickoff! 

      FTC Kickoff is 12 days away! 

      Are hosts are working hard to give you a great experience, how can you help by registering for a kickoff so our hosts know you are coming!   

      Auburn High School- Due to low attendance (only 3 teams registered), this event may be cancelled.  We will make the decision Friday morning based on registrations through Thursday.

      711 E Main St. Auburn, WA 98002 

      • 8:30 am: Doors open 
      • 9:00 am: Game reveal with Q&A and workshops to follow 
      • 12:30 pm: Event ends 

        

      BrickCon 2025!

      Meydenbauer Center 11100 NE 6th St. Bellevue, WA 98004 

      • 8:30 am: Doors open 
      • 9:00 am: Game reveal with Q&A and workshops to follow 
      • 12:00 pm: Event ends 

        

      Kennewick High School

      560 W Sixth Ave, Kennewick, WA 99336 *new location* 

      • 8:30 am: Doors open 
      • 8:30-9:00 am: Ice Breaker/Games to get to know the teams 
      • 9:00 am: Game reveal with Q&A and brainstorming sessions 

        

      Saint Martin’s University

      5000 Abbey Way SE Lacey, WA 98503 *new location* 

      • 8:30 am: Doors open 
      • 9:00 am: Game reveal with Q&A and brainstorming sessions to follow 
      • 12:00 pm: Event ends 

        

      Ridgeline High School

      20150 E. Country Vista Dr. Liberty Lake, WA 98019 

      • 8:30 am: Doors open 
      • 9:00 am: Game reveal 
      • 10:00 am: Field reveal, rules Q&A 
      • 10:30 am: Workshops 
      • 12:00 pm: Event ends 

       

      Click here to register for a kickoff.  We are looking forward to another great season!  

      Register your team with FIRST and FIRST Washington now! 

      FIRST Washington registration is open.  Please take a moment to register if your team plans to participate this year.   

      This form also gives you access to the FIRST Washington Registration grants that are used to lower your registration. 

      Registration form link:  https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/aa05160be9cb49ec94f3b61b272443a1   

      Register your team with firstinspires.  You can do this from your dashboard on firstinspires.org.   

      Important Dates & Deadlines

      FRC REBUILT Blog: Volume 2

      Registration for Off Season Events open! 

        Off-Season Event Registration 

        Looking for a fun way to have new members experience an event, try out a new mechanism, or network with other teams? Register to attend an off-season event this fall!

        Off-season events are hosted and run by individual FRC teams, not FIRST Washington. This means each event’s participation requirement(s), fees, and timelines may vary. All events will utilize the Reefscape game.

         

        Block Party hosted by Team 2910 – Sept 6 & 7 – Event may be rescheduled or cancelled.  Host will confirm status by 8-20. 

        Location: Mill Creek, WA

        Fee: $400 (additional $100 for a second robot if space permits)

        Register for Block Party

        For questions, contact Steve Kaneb at steve.kaneb@gmail.com

         

        Oregon Girls’ Generation / FIRST Chance hosted by Team 1425 – Oct 4 & 5 

        Oregon Girls’ Gen is a girl-focused event, run as a one-day competition. Oregon FIRST Chance is a one-day event for all students and aimed at providing an opportunity for students new to FRC to attend a pre-season event.

        Location: Wilsonville High School in Wilsonville, OR

        Registration information coming soon!

        For questions, contact Tom Sommerville Jr at tom.sommerville@gmail.com

         

        Uplift Challenge hosted by Teams 4125 and 8532 – Oct 10 & 11 

        Save the date for the Uplift Challenge! This off-season event is open to teams in schools of 500 students and below. Teams in small schools have unique challenges and strengths. This is a chance for us to come together, share ideas, learn about new resources- and of course, have an-off season competition.

        Location: Umatilla, OR

        Fee: $100

        Register for Uplift Challenge

        For questions, contact Heidi Sipe at sipeh@umatillasd.org

         

        2025 Bordie Blast: Bordie at Sea hosted by Team 2412 – Oct 11 & 12 

        Load-in Friday Oct 10th

        Location: Sammamish High School in Bellevue, WA

        Fee: $300 (additional $100 for a second robot if space permits)

        Register for Bordie at Sea

        Volunteer sign-up form

        Event Website

        For questions, contact Kim Herzog at HerzogK@bsd405.org

         

        Washington Girls’ Generation hosted by Team 2046 – Oct 18 & 19

        The goal for Girls’ Generation is to provide an inclusive experience for underrepresented communities in STEM. In that spirit, we welcome all to participate.

        Optional load-in Friday Oct 17th

        Location: Tahoma Senior High School in Maple Valley, WA

        Fee: $300

        Register for WA Girls’ Gen

        Volunteer sign-up form

        Event Website

        For questions, contact Darren Collins at dcollins@tahomasd.us

         

        StormSurge hosted by Teams 2811 and 9567 – Oct 25

        Location: Skyview High School in Vancouver, WA

        Fee: $250 (one robot), $350 (two robots)

        Register for StormSurge

        For questions, contact Luke Glassett at lukeglassett@gmail.com

         

        Annual Bunnybots OR and WA 

        Email 

        2nd Annual Bunnybots WA- hosted by team 3218

        • Location: Bonney Lake HS
        • Contest date: Dec 20th, 7:30 am – 5:00 pm
        • 1-day contest
        • load in 7:30-9:30
        • 1st matches at 10 am
        This will be a new robot, built with recycled parts.
        contest rules based on typical FRC rules
        Rules released Sept 1. https://www.frc3218.org/bunnybots

        Annual Bunnybots OR

        • Contest date: Dec 13th
        Both contests will cost $150 per bot. and have room for about 20 bots.
        Here is footage from last year’s game

         

          PNW FRC Registration is open! 

          PNW FRC registration is open.  For those of you who have already registered, THANK YOU!!  For those who haven’t, please take a moment to register if your team plans to participate this year.  For FRC teams, this is the best way for us to know you plan to participate prior to when team preferencing ends the beginning of October. 

          This form also gives you access to the FIRST Washington Registration grants that are used to lower your registration. 

          Just a reminder that the District Championship fees have been decoupled from the season registration fees so the season registration fee is now $11,800.  Teams that qualify for District Championship will be charged an additional $4000.  We hope to have some funding available to defray the District Championship registration grants. 

          Registration form link:  https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/3913797ab2d24190ae51da675f49b3b5  

          Booster Policy Update 

          We have revised our Booster policy as of June 30, 2025 and it will be effective as of July 1, 2025. 

            Please review and sign off on the current booster policy here: CLICK HERE TO ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT 

           *Please also note that effective July 1, 2025 the link to our team donation page has been updated: 

           https://www.aplos.com/aws/give/WAFIRSTBoosters/TeamDonationForm 

           Going forward please share this link with anyone who wants to donate directly to your team! 

           Please feel free to reach out to us at accounting@firstwa.org with any questions! 

          Important Dates

          FTC DECODE Blog: Volume 2

          FTC Kickoff is around the corner, register now! 

          FTC Kickoff Registration is now open! 

          Yes, it is that time already.  Time to prepare for FTC Kickoff!!  Once again, we have 5 kickoff locations though there have been some changes in venues for specific areas.  Here is the high level kickoff info: 

          Auburn High School

          711 E Main St. Auburn, WA 98002 

          • 8:30 am: Doors open 
          • 9:00 am: Game reveal with Q&A and workshops to follow 
          • 12:30 pm: Event ends 

            

          BrickCon 2025!

          Meydenbauer Center 11100 NE 6th St. Bellevue, WA 98004 

          • 8:30 am: Doors open 
          • 9:00 am: Game reveal with Q&A and workshops to follow 
          • 12:00 pm: Event ends 

            

          Kennewick High School

          560 W Sixth Ave, Kennewick, WA 99336 *new location* 

          • 8:30 am: Doors open 
          • 8:30-9:00 am: Ice Breaker/Games to get to know the teams 
          • 9:00 am: Game reveal with Q&A and brainstorming sessions 

            

          Saint Martin’s University

          5000 Abbey Way SE Lacey, WA 98503 *new location* 

          • 8:30 am: Doors open 
          • 9:00 am: Game reveal with Q&A and brainstorming sessions to follow 
          • 12:00 pm: Event ends 

            

          Ridgeline High School

          20150 E. Country Vista Dr. Liberty Lake, WA 98019 

          • 8:30 am: Doors open 
          • 9:00 am: Game reveal 
          • 10:00 am: Field reveal, rules Q&A 
          • 10:30 am: Workshops 
          • 12:00 pm: Event ends 

           

          Click here to register for a kickoff.  We are looking forward to another great season!  

          FIRST Washington Registration is open!

          FIRST Washington registration is now open.  Please take a moment to register if your team plans to participate this year.

          This form also gives you access to the FIRST Washington Registration grants that are used to lower your registration.

          Registration form link:  https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/aa05160be9cb49ec94f3b61b272443a1

          Booster Policy Update

          We have revised our Booster policy as of June 30, 2025 and it will be effective as of July, 1, 2025.

           Please review and sign off on the current booster policy here: CLICK HERE TO ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT

           *Please also note that effective July 1,2025 the link to our team donation page has been updated:

           https://www.aplos.com/aws/give/WAFIRSTBoosters/TeamDonationForm

           Going forward please share this link with anyone who wants to donate directly to your team!

           Please feel free to reach out to us at accounting@firstwa.org with any questions!

          Important Dates & Deadlines

          FLL UNEARTHED Blog: Volume 2

          In this weeks Blog-

          Season Launch! 

          Registration

          Make sure you read the entire blog!

          Welcome to UNEARTHED!

          This week was the season launch! Did everyone tune in?

          Who’s excited? I know I am! 

          I can’t wait to see what all the teams do this season! 

           

          Registration!

          Reminder- Registration in Washington is a 2 step process!

          1. Register your team with FIRST Inspires (Team registration fee, Challenge set, Robot- if needed)

          2. Register your team with FIRST Washington (Event participation fee- $350)

          Both of these registrations are required to participate in Washington for both Explore and Challenge. 

          Registration and information- 

          Challengehttps://firstwa.org/challenge-registration/ 

          Explorehttps://firstwa.org/explore-registration/ 

          Last Call!– FLL Coaches Chat Format Survey!

          Last chance to fill out the survey on the coaches chat and what format you like!  Please fill out the following 3 question survey to let me know your thoughts! I am doing this to try and better serve coaches like you! Thanks for all of your help!

          https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/dcfe720351d946b590dcfc8bd3d268c6

           

          Important Dates & Deadlines

          • Open Now – FIRST Washington Registration
          • August 5th – FLL Challenge Released 

          More From FLL

          FLL UNEARTHED Blog: Volume 1

          In this weeks Blog-

          Job Opportunities 

          FIRST Washington Registration

          Coaches Chat Survey

          Make sure you read the entire blog!

          Job Opportunities with FIRST Washington
          We have 3 new job listings with FIRST Washington:
          • Event Manager
          • Volunteer Manager
          • Marketing and Communications Manager
          If you are interested in joining our amazing team, click here to access the job postings and apply!  Feel free to share this information with anyone in your network who might be interested in working for FIRST Washington.

          FIRST Washington Registration is open!

          FIRST Washington registration is now open.  Please take a moment to register if your team plans to participate this year.

          This form also gives you access to the FIRST Washington Registration grants that are used to lower your registration.

          Registration form link: 

          Challengehttps://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/c5f3e7b49ea6400b823696be6b954a59

          Explorehttps://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/d11d85351cff4889b0cf634d0e0a6018 

          FLL Coaches Chat Format Survey!

          This season I am considering switching up the format of the FLL coaches chat. Please fill out the following 3 question survey to let me know your thoughts on the format going forward! I am doing this to try and better serve coaches like you! Thanks for all of your help!

          https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/dcfe720351d946b590dcfc8bd3d268c6 

           

          Important Dates & Deadlines

          • Open Now – FIRST Washington Registration
          • August 5th – FLL Challenge Released 

          More From FLL