Power Play Coach Email Volume 6: 9-27-22 – Register with FIRST and FIRST Washington Today!
Greetings Coaches & Mentors!
If you are new to this email this is the place where you will find all of the Washington specific FIRST Tech Challenge information. Coaches in the FIRST system for the Power Play season will be added weekly. 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:
- Registration (Both FIRST & FIRST Washington) – Please do this now!
- FTC Build Day at FIRST Washington Fieldhouse
- FTC Tuesday’s with Kevin
- Onshape with Kevin Tues & Wed
Registration (Both FIRST & FIRST Washington) – Please do this now!
We are closing in on some deadlines. I know you are all anxious to know what leagues you are in and where and when your events are. I am anxious to place you all in to leagues! Here are my challenges:
- We had 116 teams participate last year.
- So far this year, 109 teams have registered with FIRST
- So far this year 65 teams have registered with FIRST Washington
- To properly put teams in to leagues, we need the majority of the teams to be registered both with FIRST and FIRST Washington
FIRST Registration
In order to put your team into a league in the FTC Scoring System, you must be registered with firstinspires. We no longer have a work around for teams that are struggling to register with firstinspires so please register your team for the 22/23 season from your firstinspires dashboard. If you are struggling to get your team registered, please reach out to me (acollins@firstwa.org) and I will be happy to help you.
As of September 30, I will stop emailing coaches for teams not registered for the current season so please register with firstinspires prior to Sept 30, or send me an email letting me know you would like to remain on our mailing list and explaining why you haven’t registered so I can keep you updated on the current season.
Our numbers are still way down from last year so I suspect many of you still need to register with FIRST HQ
FIRST Washington Registration
Our registration form (formerly the FIRST Washington Grant form) is open. Any team planning to compete in Washington needs to fill out our registration form. If you are interested in receiving a grant, you will need to complete the form prior to September 30 (That is this Friday by the way). Here is the link to the registration form: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/fef251a315a44f02ad73abc987b3f63b
Not sure if you have registered? Here is a list of all FTC teams that have filled out the FIRST Washington Registration form: https://firstwa.org/first-tech-challenge/
To be placed in a league, you must be registered both with FIRST and FIRST Washington. We will start placing teams into leagues the very beginning of October. To be guaranteed a spot in the league closest to you, you must register your team with BOTH FIRST and FIRST Washington by September 30.
As of right now just over half of our teams have filled out the FIRST Washington registration form.
FTC Build Day at the FIRST Washington Fieldhouse
We are excited to be bringing back the FTC build day at the FIRST Washington fieldhouse on Saturday, Oct 15. This is an opportunity for teams to bring their equipment to build at our fieldhouse and connect with both rookie and veteran teams.
Kevin Ross will be there from 10-3: (we are looking for some other volunteers to come help Kevin. If you are an experienced veteran team or key volunteer, please consider RSVPing and come to support other teams)
If you are planning to attend, please fill out this form by Wednesday, October 12. We want to be respectful of our volunteers time. Show Gracious Professionalism and fill out the registration form by the deadline.
Remember our Fieldhouse has moved! Here is the new address: 22426 72nd Ave S, Kent, WA 98032
FTC Tuesdays with Kevin 6-7 pm every Tuesday
Bring your questions or just tune in!
All of these meetings start on 9/13/2022 and will be each week until December 14th. They all use the following Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82913817510?pwd=SEZPeC9UQmk2dkpWRFFsaXdkaWxvdz09
Meeting ID: 829 1381 7510
Passcode: NerdyTalk
We will make every attempt to record and upload these sessions to Youtube each week. Check our FIRST Washington Youtube channel and the ‘with Kevin’ playlist.
Onshape with Kevin every Tuesday & Wednesday
Onshape CAD Tuesday with Kevin (Tuesdays 7pm to 8:30pm)
Onshape CAD Wednesday with Kevin (Wednesday 6:30pm to 8:00pm)
Online help learning about CAD using Onshape. This 90 minute session will help get you started and help solve your CAD issues using Onshape. Many of the techniques will apply to other CAD programs as well, but this one will specifically use Onshape. Learn about assemblies, importing parts from vendors like Rev Robotics and AndyMark, modifying parts, creating your own parts for 3D printing, and working with a team on a project. Onshape is free for every FIRST participant and runs on a wide array of hardware because it is web based. You will, however, want a three button mouse. Specifically, a mouse with a left and right button plus a center scrolling mouse button. You can get one for about $6 from Amazon prime. CAD programs work very poorly on laptops with finger pads (trackpads).
Onshape CAD will be applicable to both FTC and FRC. All are welcome.
The first week (9/13 and 9/14) both days will focus on getting you and your team setup to use Onshape in an efficient way, demos on what the program does, and a tour of where to find the tutorials and which ones to start with. I expect that 9/14 will be mostly a repeat of 9/13.
All of these meetings start on 9/13/2022 and will be each week until December 14th. They all use the following Zoom link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82913817510?pwd=SEZPeC9UQmk2dkpWRFFsaXdkaWxvdz09
Meeting ID: 829 1381 7510
Passcode: NerdyTalk
We will make every attempt to record and upload these sessions to Youtube each week. Check our FIRST Washington Youtube channel and the ‘with Kevin’ playlist.
Have a fantastic week everyone!
Kevin Emery
FTC Program Delivery Partner
FIRST Washington
Adrienne Collins
Director of Programs
FIRST Washington