Does any team run a practice event before regionals start? If so where?
Thanks
The SCRRF does one in Southern California on I think the Sunday before ship every year.
It won’t be of any help to you, since you’re in NJ, but the past few years 254 has invited people to their lab to test their bots out on a full size field.
UTC Scrimmage in umm… Northern CT… I forget where… it’s on the border to MA I know that much, and in cow country cause I got lost and saw lots of flat land and cows… I thought I went to the midwest by accident… 
And then, Quincy mini meet hosted by Team 69 Hyper in Quincy MA.
Both have been the weekend before shipping on Saturday.
All of the Wisconsin teams are invited to the Sussex-Hamilton competition in Sussex, WI the Sunday before the ship date. There are usually at least 7 or 8 teams in attendance, as weather is quite the hinderance in February.
It is a great way to figure out what is really practical and reasonable to keep on your robot. Back in 2004, we returned from the practice match that evening and cut off a large steel apparatus that we had not used once in the competition which saved us loads of weight and allowed us to add a few other components and features to our robot which we otherwise might not have been able to fit in.
We’ve never been able to make it thus far, but I know there’s a pre-ship up in Greenville (about an hour and a half or so from Columbia) at Greenville Tech.
Mike Wade usually sets his field up the week before ship at the National Building museum in Washington, DC. It has coincided with a national engineering week event held there.
Wetzel
Peachtree has a scrimmage every year (usually the weekend before ship day). We have a full field, pit area etc… This year we are trying to incorporate a trade-show type approach for teams to show themselves off and hopefully pick up some media coverage and additional sponsorship.
We held a little scrimage at our school this past season. It was not a great field or anything but teams definitely got to practice and get a feel of what the real competition might be like.
I’d tend to think that a practice day, especially right before ship, isn’t the best time for any sort of media to see what an FRC team is all about. It’s like, would you invite someone who has never seen it to come to the regional on Thursday?
Last year it was held at the new Suffield HS hosted by Aces High, Team 176, one of the Hamilton Sundstrand teams. Not being from that team, but having close ties to it, I will venture to say there is a possibility there will be another one on the Saturday before ship date.
Team 418 generally attends a practice event (known to us as a mini-meet) held in Pfleugerville TX the weekend before ship day. Everyone attending usually brings an element of the field so we’ve got a full field to actually practice on and see what breaks… :yikes:
-Danny
Freddy,
We’re trying to secure a location for a practice field in NY for the weekend before ship. If so would your team be able to come over from Jersey for a scrimmage?
Best,
Wayne
1511 Hosts one here in Rochester pre-ship. We also take care of shipping people’s robots so they don’t need to worry about taking them back after the event unless they want to.
It is a very nice setup and Mr. Mike Wade and others work hard to provide us that feild.
Actually, I have found that seeing the robot in process hooks many potential sponsors/media and interests them in attending the actual event. It comes down to how you publicize. If they come expecting parts and incomplete robots then it works out well.
Team 48 has held a pre-ship event/scrimmage the Saturday before ship date each year since 2002. We construct a full size practice field and run as many full length matches as we have robots and time for. We try to send out invitations to all the teams in the Eastern OH/Western PA region, but it’s open to anyone who are desperate for some live action before the regionals begin.
Any teams wishing to use the practice field prior to the pre-ship are also welcome to do so if they call ahead to make arrangements first. Feel free to PM me if interested.
Yep, Aces High will be hosting another preseason event this year, we planning already and hope that all the local teams that came last year will return again and we also are welcoming new teams. Last year it was at the new Suffield High School, in CT not sure exactly which school it will be at this year bacause of the use of our gym… more to come in the future…
It is a great event before regionals. It has done well in the past, an this year we are comming up with new ideas for our scrimmage such as: a theme, a name instead of Suffield Scrimmage, an give aways. There will hopefully have shirts an raffles and prizes. Hope all who went last year had a blast, an hope to see new teams this year.