This is the official notification that on Tuesday, December 21st, at 6am, registration will open to select a Qualifying Tournament (QT). Use the time between now and December 21st to mentally stack rank your choices so you are ready on Tuesday to officially select.
The link to register will go out Tuesday, December 21, at 6am on Robot Tuesday, Discord, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Los.Angeles.FIRST.Tech.Challenge, and our website http://www.firsttechsocal.org/
We will NOT be pre-assigning you this year. Registration is first come, first serve and each team will be asked to select their QT preference in order from 1st to 6th. We will try our best to get a team in the QT they prefer and take into consideration mentors with more than one team that want to stay together. We will notify teams starting December 27th and into January until all slots are filled. If a team has not paid the $300.00 registration fee to SoCal FTC, they will not be able to play in a QT.
Each QT needs a minimum of 12 teams and cannot exceed 24 teams. We may add another Remote QT or collapse an in-person QT depending on registration.
Choices are:
1. January 30, Sunday: Fountain Valley High School 17816 Bushard St., Fountain Valley, CA, 92708
2. February 5, Saturday: Heritage High School, 26001 Briggs Rd, Menifee, CA 92585
3. February 6, Sunday: Heritage High School, 26001 Briggs Rd, Menifee, CA 92585
4. February 12, Saturday: REMOTE (see below for more details)
5. February 19, Saturday: Monrovia High School, 845 W Colorado Blvd, Monrovia, CA 91016
6. February 20, Sunday: Monrovia High School, 845 W Colorado Blvd, Monrovia, CA 91016
Remote:
This will be conducted the same as the 2020-2021 QT events were. (See FIRST Remote Game Manual: https://www.firstinspires.org/resource-library/ftc/game-and-season-info) Teams will have a window from February 6th to the 12th to submit scores, with the remote judging and Award ceremony on February 12th. There will be a Zoom meeting to answer questions regarding the Remote QT on Sunday, January 16, at 1pm: Remote Session Review https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87264433152?pwd=U2FZQnk4NkFzZ2kzdHhCWW5kcXE2Zz09
COVID Protocols:
We are following county guidelines at the time of the event, so stay tuned in February if conditions change. We have added additional safety precautions that include the following:
· Masks are required indoors for everyone.
· Everyone must show proof of (1) COVID vaccination or (2) PCR test within the last 72 hours or (3) Antigen test and will receive a wristband for entry or re-entry.
· “Everyone” applies to students, mentors, spectators, volunteers – everyone.
· All spectators will sign in with their name and phone number for Contact Tracing if needed. Note – volunteers, teams and mentors have signed up electronically so this information is already online.
Volunteering:
Each team is strongly asked to provide 2 volunteers for their in-person QT. The best way to volunteer is for the job you held at the League event (so no additional training is required). There are more positions at a QT that need filling that did not exist at Leagues – for instance Querer, Pit Manager, Emcee, Game Announcer, Judge Runners, Pit Runners…. Many of these positions require no training or can be quickly learned – so start thinking how you will contribute.
Championship Advancement:
The Championship is scheduled for March 12th at Monrovia High School as a Traditional (in-person) Event. The current plan is to advance 36 teams from the 6 Qualifiers. This number could increase to 48 depending on venue capacity given COVID rules. This will be finalized by January 30th. SoCal FTC has been allotted 2 teams to advance to Worlds on April 19-23.
Any questions? Feel free to submit in Discord https://discord.gg/xmUtJ2PR or email community@firsttechsocal.org.
