EXCITING NEWS for Central Oregon High-School and Middle-School Competition Robotics teams! USFIRST has approved Oregons proposal for League Play for the FIRST Tech Challenge program. If youre already participating in any of the competition robotics programs such as FIRST LEGO League or FIRST Robotics Competition, youll understand how big a game-changer this is. But...lets break it down... * MORE COMPETITION GAMEPLAY! Instead of the one-shot qualifying competitions in Winter, league meets will happen every couple of weeks starting in October. Teams can compete, improve, then compete again multiple times! * MULTIPLE LOCAL COMPETITIONS! Central Oregon will be hosting at least 4 meets locally. * FALL PROGRAM! Meets in Central Oregon will be regularly held during Fall. League Championship schedule is pending, but planned for December. Just in time for ski season...err...FIRST Robotics Competition and MATE season! * MID-WEEK GAMEPLAY, NOT CEREMONIES AND INTERVIEWS Meets will adhere to safety and inspection standards, but will not have the traditional judging and ceremonies at each event, those will be handled through a separate process. Bring the team and robot to the field, get inspected, and COMPETE! * ALL LEAGUE TEAMS COMPETE AT A LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! Location and date to be determined. Plans are to bring teams from 2 leagues to compete at a League Championship. * HYBRID PROGRAM Dont want to participate in the League Play? No problem...there are still traditional Qualifiers to attend, but youre not guaranteed theyll be in close proximity to you. * ADVANCE TO STATE CHAMPIONSHIP! Advancing teams from League Championships and the traditional qualifiers will advance to the State Championship, then Super-Regional, and World Championships following traditional advancement criteria. =============================== Lots more information is coming out from USFIRST and Oregon FIRST Tech Challenge in the next few weeks. High Desert Makers is closely following these updates and will be providing resources to teams in the Central Oregon region through our High Desert Robotics Expositions program. (no direct financial resources from us...sorry...but there are grants and assistance available from other sources). What do you do right now? Simple...get a group of youth in 7th-12th grades together and start preparing your team. You can register now if youre ready. Summit High School will host the Central Oregon kickoff event on Saturday, September 6th. League Play schedule will be distributed at that time. More information is available via the links and pages in the comments below. -swb
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 18:03:29 +0000