**FIRST Tech Challenge Team E-mail Blast** FTC Gets Persistent Team Numbers

[GeorgeTheEng]

Originally Posted by dtengineering

Hmmm... but no word on whether you can get an FTC number that matches your FRC number.... it certainly saves on T-shirt and promo material costs when you can do that.

Jason

If you think about it logically though that really wouldn't make sense for FIRST unless there was a strict one-to-one relationship between FRC and FTC teams. If a school has one FRC team and multiple FTC teams how are numbers assigned? In addition, how do you handle rookies for either program so that numbers don't overlap?

The question would have to go the other way as well. If you have a FTC team and decide to create an FRC team do you take your FTC number with you.

I think as long as you are keeping the numbers from here forward, you're only really looking at a one time cost for redoing any existing promo materials.

[Rick TYler]

My modest proposal was that FIRST "charter" a group to have FIRST teams. For example, the "chartering organization" might be a school, a company or a club of some sort (Boy Scouts, Explorers, 4H, parent's group). The chartering organization would be given a single number, and each team would be a branch off that. For example, Exothermic Robotics, FIRST Organization 575, would have FRC 575, FLL 575-L1, 575-L2, and FTC 575-T1, 575-T2, etc.

If FIRST wants to use this, I won't even charge royalties. (Especially since I stole the idea from Boy Scouts, where a chartering organization can have Pack 575, Troop 575, Crew 575, Ship 575, and Team 575. For example )

[Andrew Bates]

That might eventually work. I actually think that might be what FIRST would like to do, with their whole goal of having an FRC team in every high school. Then it would make sense. However the density of teams is not high enough yet.