Important Dates & Deadlines:
September 6th - RSVP for Upcoming Kickoff Events
September 7th - INTO THE DEEP℠ Kickoff (Madison, Milwaukee, Manitowoc)
September 12th - Mentor & Student Leadership Meeting (Virtual)
September 14th - April Tag Training (open to the public - in Manitowoc)
September 14th - Year Two Google.org Training (2nd year Google.org teams only - in Manitowoc)
September 21st - 22nd - FTC Professional Development Training for Google.org Rookie Teams - Western Technical College (La Crosse)
October 24th - 25th - FTC Professional Development Training for Google.org Rookie Teams - MSOE (Milwaukee)
November 23rd - Start of Wisconsin FTC Competition season
Exciting Updates:
Studica will be providing equipment for door prizes for teams attending one of our three in-person Kickoff events!
Team Projections this season:
Goals:
Team Retention Rate: ~95%
Rookie Teams: 24
Approximate Team Number: 104
Competition Season - Timeline and Preferencing
Projected to have ten QT events for an average event play of 2.3 per team.
Piloting a handful of double-event, Saturday and Sunday, same-venue, Qualifying Tournaments to accommodate all of the events this season.
We'll see more events taking place on the Western side of Wisconsin growth - Events to be hosted in Madison and La Crosse
Last season, first round event preferencing opened October 4th; for the INTO THE DEEP season, we are targeting an earlier date to open event preferencing. .
In future seasons, our goal is to have all qualifying tournament dates finalized by FTC Kickoff.
The first FTC Qualifying Tournament will take place November 23rd
Our FTC State Championship is tentatively scheduled for March 7th - 8th, 2025
It will be officially confirmed after contract is finalized
Currently discussing a schedule that includes Friday night team load-in and judging.
This decision is pending release of the full season manual to review any season-updates that should be taken into account.
Schedule updates for the State Championship will be clearly communicated leading up to the first Qualifying Tournament.
Volunteer Needs:
With the growth of the FIRST Tech Challenge program in Wisconsin we have a number of high priority volunteer roles we need to fill.
Please consider helping us recruit volunteers for the following roles!
Community Communications & Meetings:
Current FTC Mentors and volunteers, watch for an invitation (to be sent the week before Kickoff) to join a FIRST Wisconsin FTC Slack Workspace,
Our goal is to streamline peer-to-peer communications, increase knowledge about volunteer needs, and provide valuable Q&A to new coaches and mentors.
Google.org Grants for Rookie Middle School Teams are available - Now's the time to register and attend Professional Development Training!
RSVP for the first FTC Mentor & Student Leadership meeting of the year on Thursday, September 12th from 8-9pm CT
Watch for more updates on the FTC program page leading up to FTC Kickoff!
All the Best,
Renee
Comments