Greetings MA 2022-2023 FIRST Tech Challenge Teams,
We are excited to announce we will be increasing our MA FTC State Championship to a 36-team event this season.
Why 36 teams?
The MA FTC State Championship represents the penultimate event and the grand celebration of the cumulative hard work of our MA FTC teams except for two (2) teams who will get to represent our community at the FIRST World Championship.
We recognize that having an opportunity to participate in the MA FTC State Championship will raise the collective knowledgebase competitiveness, foster camaraderie and new partnerships, and inspire all involved. And, as we look toward a bright future of continued team growth, we know we need to increase the size of this event so the relative percentage of teams getting to participate grows commensurately. For all of the aforementioned reasons, we are trying to make headway to allow as many teams as possible to participate starting this season. Additionally, as second year program delivery partners, we want to ensure we can bring you a high quality 36-team event before we move to the next level.
From the four (4) qualifiers that have ran so far, we are encouraged by our collective ability to deliver more match plays to teams than ever before in a similar time schedule, which owes much credit to the exceptional volunteers and the cooperation of teams. However, as with all things, we want to proceed cautiously and strategically as we grow and learn.
This said, our goal is to move to a 40-team state championship event and beyond in the future.
How will the additional spots be selected?
With 10 Qualifying events and our existing plan to advance up to three (3) teams from each event, 30 spots will be filled per the following FIRST advancement order:
1.) Event Host Team
2.) Inspire Award Winner
3.) Captain of the Winning Alliance
4.) Next eligible advancement as defined by FIRST in the event that any of the proceeding teams have already qualified for the MA FTC State Championship
We will advance the remaining six (6) spots as follows:
On Monday, February 20, 2023 following our last Qualifying Event, our BTI team will conduct a TIERED lottery drawing that recognizes the high achievement of teams per the FIRST advancement order:
1.) We will first draw from the pool of Inspire 2nd place winners not yet advanced from each of the 10 Qualifiers
2.) If there are less than six (6) Inspire 2nd place winners from this pool, we will draw from the pool of Winning Alliance first-tteam selected winners not yet advanced from each of the 10 Qualifiers
3.) We will repeat this process working down the FIRST advancement list until all 6 spots are filled
Invitation and Acceptance Deadline:
We will invite the selected teams starting no later than February 21, 2023.
If we cannot get in touch with either of the lead mentors for the team and/or do not receive an acceptance reply by end of day February 23 5:00 pm, the team will forfeit their invitation and we will proceed to invite the next eligible team per the process defined above.
Given the tight turn around for states we need to ensure these slots are filled expeditiously. Thank you for your understanding.
IMPORTANT I – Please be able to check your email week of February 20th or have a working phone number in the FIRST system
We know the lottery will be taking place the week of school winter vacation.
If you are unable to access your email (i.e., you have a school email address you cannot access outside of school) please be sure to have a working telephone/cell phone number in the FIRST system as we will contact those from whom we do not get an email reply via telephone.
IMPORTANT II – Don’t take your robot apart until drawing is complete and all spots confirmed
Please do not take your robot apart until this drawing is complete and all acceptance confirmations are received. There is the potential for a team to decline, and if this is the case, we will continue to work through the above process until all slots are filled.
We will communicate to all teams via email when the spots have been filled.
In general, please don’t take your robot apart after your last event!
We are in discussions about holding a post-states Off-Season event and we will let you know as soon as we have a date/venue so you can plan accordingly.
MA FTC STATES VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!?
With more teams competing at the MA FTC State Championship we are going to need more volunteers.
If you can please encourage friends, family, colleagues etc. to apply as a volunteer and help us put on this event, it will be greatly appreciated.
Please have them sign up at www.firstinspires.org
FIRST is a global robotics community preparing young people for the future and the world’s leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM education.
www.firstinspires.org
by first creating an account. They can then Log In and view the volunteer opportunities.
If any questions, please reach out to Wayne at wpenn@firstinspires.org.
Added Snow Date – March 5th Andover High School
We are pleased to announce that we now have a Snow Date of March 5 at Andover High School in the event of inclement weather on March 4th.
NOTE: Should the event not be able to take place on either the 4th or the 5th, we have snow dates for March 18th and 19th at Natick High School
Many thanks and please let us know if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming Qualifiers!
Best,
Deb
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