A couple of our schools that had FTC teams in 2018 or 2019, now want to start up again. I was administrator for the teams, and I know their team numbers, but because they didn’t play for a couple of years, they have disappeared off my dashboard. Does anyone know how I can ‘revive’ those team numbers, or if they must start with new numbers?
Also, I know the issue of “what is a rookie team” has been in the news lately in the FRC realm, but anyone know what the rules are for FTC teams? These are schools that had teams a few years ago but now have all new kids AND new mentors. If enough years have passed, they should be rookies, but I don’t know what the time period is.
Finally, IF they qualify as rookies, I’m guessing they need to start fresh with a new number, right?
FIRST® LEGO® League Explore, FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge, and FIRST® TechChallenge teams: The principal/director of the team’s associated organization may email the appropriate program inbox ([email protected], [email protected], or [email protected]) from their email account asking us to assign a new lead coach 1. Ask them to include the team number, full name of the new lead coach 1, and their preferred email address.
There aren’t really any benefits to being a rookie team in FTC aside from access to the rookie team grant. Your best bet is to ask your local Program Delivery Partner for guidance, as they may be able to talk to someone to get the old numbers restored, or recommend that you register new numbers, depending on if any of the old team equipment still exists. You can also email [email protected], but my experience is that it sometimes takes a few extra days longer than the PDP can get it done in.
Your PDP’s email can be found at the bottom of this page:
I just went through this as well - I had to resurrect four of our FTC teams. Try this email: [email protected]. Include the numbers of the teams you are looking for. It took about a day for them to get my teams back on my dashboard.
If you need anything else, just message me. Good luck!
Ope - another way to connect with them is to go to your dashboard and then look at your teams. At the bottom of the page, there is a chat function. They can get you started there as well. When I did it, no one was available so they emailed me back the next day.
As PDP, I was actually asked to help a team with this today and my FIRST contact told me to tell the team to email [email protected], so this is the correct answer. However, your PDP will likely want to know that the teams are planning to return, so it’s always good to keep them in the loop.
The one other advantage (this season) is that rookies have prioritized access to limited Control Hub stock (for obvious reasons). So if the revived team doesn’t have those existing materials, being a rookie would make it easier to obtain them.