[Kims Robot]

Congrats on your first event!! I'm sure you guys will have a blast. FTC can be a little less stress and just as much fun as FRC.

I've been an FTC head ref for the last 5 years at the Northern NY tournament, and I hand out a "head refs sheet" with some pointers for each team. I will post a few of my more generic points here

• Inspections - Go to inspections as EARLY as possible. This is even more critical in FTC than in FRC because this is when they check your control system to make sure it works with the field. You are at a later event, so the field should be just fine, but it helps to get there early just in case. We had a few teams miss their first match because inspections got backed up.
• Practice Matches - If there are practice matches GO to them. It is a great time for your team to understand how refs will call the game, ask questions, and see if there are any differences with the field (and make sure your robot syncs with the field!)
• Coaches Meeting - If there is a coaches meeting with the head ref, go to it and don't be afraid to bring questions. The only stupid question is the one you don't ask. I can't speak for all refs but I would rather answer stupid questions than call needless penalties.
• Opponent Robot Legality - If you see a robot that has something illegal about it, go ask the team about it. If the team denies it, go talk to the inspection staff. If they aren't sure, go talk to the referees. It is important that you bring it up as SOON as you see it, because often it won't be dealt with once you make it into finals. I had a team complain after the finals of an event that "it wasn't fair, XYZ part was illegal". But at that point I couldnt do anything about it. I couldnt rerun all of finals, and the team honestly didnt realize it was illegal and no one else caught it in that timeframe. So bring it up early.
• BATTERIES - Always make sure you have a charged battery going into a match, just like FRC, they will not rerun the match if you have a low battery. Though in FTC, the problem is sometimes exacerbated because sometimes they don't have an easy way to detect if its battery.
• Penalties - make sure you have read the rules carefully. I know when I ran the tournament there had been several updates to SG5 and SG6, and it was somewhat confusing. If you aren't sure, ask your head ref before the competition. I absolutely hated calling the 40 point penalties, but there were plenty of times I had to.

Have a great time!!