FTC Leagues

[FTC0839]

Originally Posted by Foster

Ahh I love the smell of diesel in the morning.

It smells like victory!!

Foster,
Thank you very much for the detailed thoughts!

Simplicity is not my forte ... mix that with OCD and being a worry-wort, and ... thank God for Zantac!

[FTC0839]

As a follow-up, I had a productive, lengthy conversation with our State FTC Partner, and also a discussion with a fellow League Coach. Here are the updates:
- logistics: a) since League Meets are more casual and smaller, volunteer resources are less, b) a League should be able to - as a community - provide shared resources for the events, so the burden on any 1 coordinator is less
- setup: since there is only 1 field, setup should be easily done
- matches: the League Team listing was just a preliminary - it is anticipated once the League kicks off, additional teams will be on board and, with adjustments as necessary, Leagues will be 10-15 teams
- "vision": the kids want more playing time, but since there is no formal judging at the League Meets, the timeline for the other activities (community service, etc.) is essentially unchanged
- timing: with only 8 weeks until the first Meet (then every 4 weeks thereafter), it will be a Coach's management challenge to focus the brainstorm & prototype phase and quickly get to building, and somehow squeeze CAD prototyping, CNC, sensors, autonomice, etc. for later phases of the project, but still including design development
- money: most FTC competitions are hosted by a school team, so the costs are mostly indirect (cost center transfer from school line item to town line item) - as a non-school based team, our costs are direct, "real" money, so we'll have to "get creative" or not be able to host since our direct costs would be somewhere around $1,000 (?) to hire town personnel (police [1 per 50], 1 EMT and 2 custodians)
- spectators: I still don't like a cafeteria setup, but maybe the rolling bleachers for FLL we use might be enough
- statistics: apparently every team participate in the League Championship, so there is a statistical quantity for proceeding to the States, and 20-30%'ish will proceed


I hope this journey was useful to those who read the entries - if anyone else has personal FTC League experience to share, I'd appreciate it.

[Foster]

If you anticipate having extra time then change your schedule to add a seminar in the first part of the day. For example, doors open at 8:30. 9-10 is a seminar on how to CAD. 10:30 first match of the day. You can run multiple tracks at the same time.

I was gobsmacked by the estimate of $1000 per event for external people. I know that roboteer hooliganism is on the rise, but really a police person for every 50 people? Likewise an EMT? Is this mandated by the venue or by your local FTC organization?

[FTC0839]

Foster,
Thanks for the idea on having workshops.
The hiring of other town personnel was town policy for outside organizations using town facilities. However, I will be challenging such for small League Meets.

[Mr V]

There should be no reason that you should hold a league event. There are going to be 10-15 teams in your league and there should be 2 or 3 teams that are school based that can get their facility for free. So just worry about providing some set up or tear down help and/or a reset person.

[FTC0839]

Mr. V,
Thanks for the input.
Yes it would be nice if Anyone else would do it, but I prefer to be Someone to make sure that No One doesn't do it.**
If a school steps up to get one done for $150, we can always cancel ours. But if we don't get on the calendar, it's not an option. And, as I said in the previous post, I will try to negotiate the facility for free.
Jay

**http://betterlifecoachingblog.com/20...ne-and-no-one/

[Mr V]

The typical league events around here don't have time for workshops and other activities. The idea behind the league events is that they are a quick, get in and get out event along the lines of a track or swim meet. Often after school and 3hrs tops.

I certainly understand the idea behind the someone, everyone, anyone and no one philosophy. However the typical leagues that we run around here one of the long time, proven coaches volunteers or is voluntold that they are the league coordinator and they are responsible for making sure that someone steps up to host events and that those events are scheduled at the appropriate times and locations that minimizes the average impacts on teams. That person is also usually the one that is responsible for the field, storage, transport and making sure that there are the right number of people that show up a little early to have it ready to go when the rest of the teams get there and makes sure that someone will be there to take it down and either transport it to the next location or take it and store it until the next event.

Your FTC partner may have an idea of who the league coordinator will be based on last year and may be able to put you in contact with that person. However leagues do change from year to year due to team growth and lost teams. So they will likely adjust the boundaries to balance the number of teams yet keep those people who are worthy of being a league coordinator with a given league.

As soon as you can contact that league coordinator and start working on the details of the league events. You may find that there is a team that has a location they can get for free but doesn't want to handle all of the logistics of the event themselves so you can partner with them.

A lot of the league events around here were held on weekdays to avoid the janitorial fees. Many places have the janitor work until 10 pm or so and if you work with them they will clean the cafeteria last and hopefully they will find that the teams have already swept everything so they only have to take out one can of garbage. They have less work and it takes place in their normal hours so no janitorial fee and the teacher is responsible for school lock up ect. That way there is zero cost associated with the event, either out of pocket or transfer of budgets.