According to the game manual you can enter the secret passage and have no time limit in said zone, but my question is when the opposing team rolls a ball into the secret passage. Can you steal the ball and then re-enter the courtyard to score some points? Thanks for helping me in advance!
~5442
I read that rule several times.
**G20 ROBOTS may only enter or exit their opponent’s SECRET PASSAGE from/to the opponent’s COURTYARD. A ROBOT is considered to be within the SECRET PASSAGE once the only carpet the ROBOT is in contact with is the carpet inside the SECRET PASSAGE. **
My reading of that is that if you’ve made it through the defenses and are in their courtyard you can occupy the space that is the secret passage.
You must exit the secret passage back into the opponent’s courtyard as well.
So, once you are in the courtyard, you can enter the secret passage to snag balls as they are entering the field.
Yes, my interpretation of that was basically that you CAN cross from the opponent’s courtyard into their secret passage (and vice versa), but you CANNOT cross from the neutral zone into their secret passage (and vice versa). Ever.
some people on the team seem to be confused on this explanation, but wont explain what they are confused on (thanks Jermery) can you explain this a little more in-depth for us? i’d love to tell you what they dont understand but they wont explain. (tensions are a little high here…)
I’ll put it this way: You cannot use the Secret Passage to bypass your opponents’ Defenses. You can use it to get around your own, however.
Once you are inside the defenses, you can enter but not use the passage.
That explained it. Thanks a ton!
I like that explanation. Good intuitive sense of what the rule is saying.
Here’s a picture (NOT from the manual):
http://s18.postimg.org/xjbl5z7mh/Screen_Shot_2016_01_09_at_1_35_55_PM.png
one more question, does the yes on entering your side go with entering apply to the enemy secret passage?
I’m not quite sure what you’re asking, but you are always free to enter and exit YOUR secret passage from any direction.
This picture was made assuming you were on the blue alliance.
you answered the question. thank you.
If it’s ok to sit inside your opponent’s secret passage, is it not possible to block cannonballs boulders from entering the field indefinitely? I could not find mention of this in the manual, and it feels like I’m missing something.
EDIT: I can;t get strikethrough to work. Boulders, not canonballs. I’m too used to the pre-season speculation. 
Boulders (please use the official term, there are no such thing as cannonballs in FIRST Stronghold) need to be returned to the field if there are more than 6 in the castle. I see no rules about intercepting incoming boulders.
I believe that intercepting and hoarding more than one would count as a violation of G38.
I would agree, if you try to control multiple. If you simply redirect them into your opponent’s courtyard one at a time, I do not see a problem with G38.
How about if you parked right in front of the chute (I forget the official name), and every time a boulder was introduced into the field, just fire it right into the high goal from your position.
Obviously sounds like this shouldn’t be allowed, but what rules would it violate?
You’re not in the Courtyard. G39 says you get a tech foul per boulder.
Oh right, I forgot that the secret passage is not a part of the courtyard.
G21 A ROBOT contacting carpet in the opponent’s SECRET PASSAGE may not contact opposing ROBOTS. Violation: TECH FOUL
This would make time in the secret passage risky.
Intentionally making an opponent break G21 would break G11.