Charged Up Coach Email Volume 2: 7-26-22 – Grants & Registration

Greetings Coaches!

If you are new to this email this is the place where you will find all of the Pacific NW District specific FIRST Robotics Competition information. Coaches in the FIRST system for the current season will be added once teams are able to register for events. Every email from me will be numbered and that number lets you know which update it is, if you miss an update you can find it on our website.

Here is what I have for you today:

• Plans for next season
• Grant Dates and PNW FRC Registration opening
• Registration Fees

 

 

Plans for Next Season

Thank you to all of the coaches who have taken time to fill out our survey, we know your time is valuable and appreciate you taking a few minutes to let us know your plans for next year and what challenges you face. If you would like to see if someone from your team has filled out our survey, please follow this link:  https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/89bd8473c3554f719ee6ac49edd7882a

 

For those of you who have not yet filled out the survey:  It helps us from a planning perspective to know how many teams plan to return next season. I know that COVID has impacted teams differently and that we had several teams take a year or two off because of a coach transition, fundraising challenges etc… Whether you competed last year or in a previous year, we would love to hear if you plan to return or if there is anything FIRST Washington can do to support your team through a challenge you are facing.

I realize that FIRST has also sent out a survey asking about teams plans for next season. Unfortunately we don’t have access to any of that information so it would really help us if you could fill our survey out even if you have already filled the FIRST survey out.

Survey Link:  https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/5c6d59ffb9d344639fe56ab0086d739e

Grants and PNW FRC Registration

Boeing Grant is Open – Any team with a Boeing Mentor

The Boeing grant opened earlier this month. In order to receive a Boeing sponsorship, a team must have a Boeing employee or retiree who commits to volunteering for the team at least 25 hours over the course of the season. Your Boeing Mentor will be able to go in and submit the grant for your team. The information we have is that the grant should remain open until September 30th which is much later than in prior years.

OSPI Grant will open August 1 – Washington public school teams only

The OSPI grant should open August 1st and will close on October 3rd. If you are a Washington public school, be sure to coordinate with the Administrator in your school who is responsible for filling out (or approving) the grant. We learned from OSPI that there were some schools who did not fully fill out the grant in the past few years and therefore were unable to be considered for funding. Be sure to answer all questions completely. Remember FIRST Washington grants show up on your invoice so you will not know what those grants are before the deadline but every team that registers with FIRSTWashington by the grant deadline who is interested in a grant will receive funding from FIRST Washington Donors.

 

PNW FRC Registration Opens August 1st

Our registration form (formerly the FIRST Washington Grant form) will open on Monday August 1st. Any team planning to compete in the Pacific Northwest District needs to fill out our registration form. (This can be done in lieu of filling out our participation survey above but it does take just a bit more time) If you are interested in receiving a grant, you will need to complete the form prior to September 30. Here is the link to the registration form. It will go live on Monday morning August 1st: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/fef251a315a44f02ad73abc987b3f63b

PNW FRC District Registration fees for 22/23

As you are aware, there has been an increase of $1,000 to the FRC registration fee from FIRST Headquarters to $6,000 (the FIRST Registration portion for both rookie and veteran teams will now be $6,000). The change is due to increases in costs to run the program. This is the first increase by FIRST HQ in many years.

 

FIRST Washington does not plan to raise our fees, we will simply pass through the $6,000  FIRST HQ registration fee which means your invoices will start out at $13,000 this season rather than $12,000. FIRST Washington and ORTOP have continued to raise funds for teams so teams can expect to receive funding to cover some of the registration fee as is prior years.

 

For those teams that may need additional financial support to sustain the program, given this change, please reach out to us.

Stay cool everyone!