Thank YOU Week 2 Coaches!

Thank you to our week 2 coaches for being prepared and bringing your roster to the event to turn in.   

Remember, you need to turn in your roster and paper consent forms for any student/mentor who hasn’t signed and electronic consent form at every single event you attend.  Lets keep it up for our week 3 & 4 events!  

If you are having issues getting your roster printed or need help, feel free to reach out to me and I will be happy to work with you (to the extent that I can) or connect you with folks at FIRST that can help you. 

Lets make sure our volunteers can focus on the important work of making a great event for your hard working students, and not spend their time trying to find a way to print your roster for you. 

Register to Volunteer at DCMP

We are three weeks out and we’re looking forward to an exciting District Championship Event at Eastern Washington University in Cheney April 2 – 5.  

If you’re planning to volunteer at DCMP but ONLY if your team qualifies, we advise you apply for the role you want and include a note in your application stating your team number, and that your assignment is conditional of your team making it. That will help us get a better understanding of who plans to volunteer. 

If you have the ability to volunteer whether your team qualifies or not, we highly encourage you to do so! 

Not sure where to start? Follow the guide below!

Are you a…. Coach/mentor/parent?

• Robot Inspector: A great role for anyone interested in learning more about how the robot works, and what regulations have to be met to pass inspection.
• Judge: A great role to learn more about the judging process! If you’re someone who always thinks “gosh! Why didn’t my team win BLANK award?!” this is a great role for you! Judging allows you to connect with students and fellow volunteers, and teaches you just how many variables go into the judging process. This is still only a two-day time commitment, just like any FRC event (Friday AND Saturday). 

Are you a…. Student?

• Field Reset: This role allows you to be field side and get a front row seat for matches!
• Audio/Visual Attendant: Are you interested in photography, videography, and have an attention for detail? This role is for you!

Thanks for all your help this season!

District Championship/Championship Event Briefing 3-18 at 7:00 pm

Our District Championship/Championship Event Briefing is scheduled for Tuesday, Mar 18 at 7:00 pm. 

If you think you may qualify for District Championships, I recommend that you attend this meeting though it will be recorded an posted to our website so if you don’t attend and qualify, you will still be able to access the information. 

Important Dates

We Need Your Help!

Coaches, you need to turn in your roster and paper consent forms for any student/mentor who hasn’t signed and electronic consent form at every single event you attend. 

I’m rather disappointed in how many of our veteran teams did not come prepared with their rosters at our week one events.  This is understandable if you are a rookie team but it is unacceptable for a veteran team.  When you do this, you cause our volunteers to work harder because they go out of their way to ensure your team is able to participate in the event – Yes, that is true!

If your team does not bring a printed roster, we cannot let your team participate. That is not just a FIRST Washington rule, it’s a FIRST Inspires rule that we are all REQUIRED to follow.

From week 2 on, please come prepared.  I will be asking our Pit Admin folks not to print rosters for unprepared teams unless they are rookies.  If you forget your roster, you are welcome to visit a FedEx, Kinkos, your hotel, or a local library (or some other local business that allows printing) so that you can get your roster printed. 

If you are having issues getting your roster printed or need help, feel free to reach out to me and I will be happy to work with you (to the extent that I can) or connect you with folks at FIRST that can help you. 

Lets make sure our volunteers can focus on the important work of making a great event for your hard working students, and not spend their time trying to find a way to print your roster for you. 

Register as an Event Volunteer

It’s not too late to register as an event volunteer this season.

Volunteering at an event is a GREAT way to learn more about the program and peak behind the curtain.

Not sure where to start? Follow the guide below!

Are you a…. Coach/mentor/parent?

• Robot Inspector: A great role for anyone interested in learning more about how the robot works, and what regulations have to be met to pass inspection.
• Judge: ONLY at an event your team is NOT competing at – A great role to learn more about the judging process! If you’re someone who always thinks “gosh! Why didn’t my team win BLANK award?!” this is a great role for you! Judging allows you to connect with students and fellow volunteers, and teaches you just how many variables go into the judging process.

Are you a…. Student?

• Field Reset: This role allows you to be field side and get a front row seat for matches!
• Audio/Visual Attendant: Are you interested in photography, videography, and have an attention for detail? This role is for you!

If you go to apply for an event and you can’t find the role you want to fulfill, it means it’s full! Our greatest needs events right now are Bonney Lake and SunDome – the Week 3 slump is real!

Lastly, we are accepting volunteers for the District Championship in Cheney, WA this year! Don’t hesitate to apply. But if your attendance is dependent on your team making it, please add a comment in your application so we are aware of that.

Thanks for all your help this season!

District Championship/Championship Event Briefing 3-18 at 7:00 pm

Our District Championship/Championship Event Briefing is scheduled for Tuesday, Mar 18 at 7:00 pm. 

If you think you may qualify for District Championships, I recommend that you attend this meeting though it will be recorded an posted to our website so if you don’t attend and qualify, you will still be able to access the information. 

Week 1 Events Are Behind Us!

Our week 1 events are behind us and as a whole, they went VERY well! I want to thank the coaches and students for their part in the events running smoothly.

The competition field is a bit messy for loading robots on and off the field, students followed directions and very quickly fell into a rhythm that allowed us to do that efficiently and stay on time.

With the big changes to alliance selection, it has the potential to be very messy. I was at alliance selection for both events and from everything I saw, our alliance groups were on time, prepared, (mostly) knew what they were supposed to do and did an excellent job of following directions. In the PNW, alliance selection was absolutely painless (which was not the case everywhere) and that is in large part because of all of you so THANK YOU!!

Important Dates

District Event Briefing: 2/13 at 7:00 pm

Our District Event Briefing is scheduled for next Thursday, Feb 13 at 7:00 pm. We will be going over the general details for all of our district events so it is important that you have one adult attend. We will be working to ensure the links on the calendar match the links that we are sending out so we don’t have the confusion that we had on our last meeting.

Week 1 Events are Around the Corner! 

Week 1 Events: Oregon State Fair & Glacier Peak 

The information for the week 1 events will be posted on the event here by the end of the day Wednesday, Feb 12.

Additionally, the link and information will be emailed to the lead and alternate contact on the team. Make sure you look through this information and share it with your mentors and parents.

Reminder: Student Volunteers Need to Submit YPPs once they turn 18

OWe have many awesome FRC students who enjoy volunteering at FRC events. Please remind your students that they are required to submit a Youth Protection Policy bacakground check (YPP) once they turn 18 years old. Even if they are still a high school student, it is a FIRST Inspires policy for all adults.

For these students, it will be their first time ever submitting the background check, so they may need help! Please check in with your 18 y.o. students who intend to volunteer and walk them through the process.

1. Login to your FIRST Inspires account ( https://www.firstinspires.org/ )
2. Then select the “Hello, NAME!” dropdown menu and then select Acknowledgement forms. This tab will list all outstanding paperwork that’s needed.
3. Then select Youth Protection Policy Screening and use the US user guide for step-by-step instructions for submitting.

Important Dates