last updated Dec 20, 2024

Summary:

    • One Coach (or Supervising Adult) goes to Team Check-In desk in the AUX GYM / Team Pit Area  (Red Outlined building).
      • The team will receive their team buttons for each team member plus 2 coach buttons at this time along with 1 Coach/Mentor Nomination Form.
      • Reminder: No new team members may be added between the Qualifier Tournament and the Championship.
    • Team members can go directly to their pit table to setup  –  PITs open at 7:15am.
    • Any adult from the team (preferably a Coach) must attend the Mandatory Coaches Meeting at 7:30am (exact classroom number is specific to tournament location  – typically this is in the Judging Pod 6 room).
    • NEW:  FAQ for Championship

 

VERY IMPORTANT: The pit areas will be open to the public.    This means that your team should have someone to hang out at your pit table while the team is at judging and competition rounds.  Be aware that the public will have access to all areas except for judging. Each team is responsible for their “stuff” and hopefully we can watch out for each other, but please don’t count on it. You will have access to your pit table through your 4th robot game round.  Please make a point of returning to your pit table immediately after your final round and start cleaning up – we are expecting you to help to get your pit table and chairs folded and stacked neatly for pickup.

 

VERY IMPORTANT:  We will be doing a security check  for Food and Beverages at each door as they are not allowed in the pit area at any time.   No one may bring in any food/beverages into the pit area or competition area except for water – even for storage (ie  even if it is a covered container). We would recommend leaving items in your car or moving them to the cafeteria (if one exists). This also means that your team’s “give away” should not be a candy or food-related item (and please, no stickers either!).

 

Robotic Performance Competition & Scoring:

You need to be queued for each game round ~5 minutes prior to your match.

  • The latest Q&A {aka Game Rulings and Updates} is the official word and the head referee will make final determinations based on version posted on the Friday before the championship tournament at noon, pacific time.
  • Each team will attempt the robotics challenge in 4 separate rounds during the tournament day – there is no practice round and every round is scored officially and counts.
  • There are 3 pairs of competition tables – labeled RED1, RED2,  WHITE1, WHITE2 and BLUE1, BLUE2
  • Robot performance awards will be based on the single highest score, with ties being determined by 2nd, 3rd and 4th highest scores.  If this does not break the tie, then we will award multiple trophies as needed.  We will do a coin toss (or something similar) to determine which team gets the trophy on the day of the tournament and the other team(s) will get a trophy ordered after the event.
  • IMPORTANT:  Each team may have only the team members on the competition floor during their performance rounds. There will be a very small designated area for the team to stand on the competition floor near the team’s table and the team is not allowed to roam out of the designated area.
  • IMPORTANT:  No coaches/mentors will be allowed on the competition floor.
  • Each team will have their robot pre-inspected prior to every round. The robot pre-inspection table will be at the team entrance and will confirm legal parts.
  • Note that your competition round may be earlier or later than scheduled. It is important to stay alert to changes and have someone at your pit table at all times that knows where the team is. The pit area is in a different area than the competition area – so being alert and ready to go is important.
  • If the team has a question about a robot scoresheet entries, a team member (not the coach) must bring it to the attention of the head referee immediately, before leaving the competition table and before signing off on the form. The head referee’s decisions are final. There is no escalation for the competition scoring beyond the head referee.
  • If there is a problem with the robot score as entered (and displayed) or other question related to their robot score, please assign a team member (or two) to go to the “Question Box” outlined near the competition fields and nicely ask for the Head Referee to review the score as entered. We will have a “Question Box” area marked off for 1 or 2 team members to stand in if they have a question for the head referee about the score.  Again,  this is for a team member,  not a mentor, coach or any other non-team member.
  • Note that teams can not bring extra robots, motors, game elements,  laptops etc to the competition floor area. A team may only bring to the competition floor the maximum electrical pieces as defined in the “Materials” section of the Rules. You may have your entire LEGO kit and multiple robots at your pit table. The restriction is on what items you bring to the competition floor.
  • If your team’s strategy includes picking up your robot, please just let the referee know ahead of time.
  • Remember that the team may not touch the field, the mat or any field elements before, during or after their competition round.  Intentionally resetting or checking a field element by the team is explicitly not allowed.
  • The team is responsible for asking the referee to check the mat and game elements before their round to ensure that all elements are fully dual-locked and setup properly.
  • NO BLUETOOTH ENABLED AT ANY TIME in the competition area
  • You are welcome to calibrate your light sensor(s) during your normal “1 minute” setup time prior to each game round.  Remember that you can not interact / interfere with the game field during this time and we will ask you to limit this to near the BASE area and not throughout the field.

Judging:

You need to be queued for judging  ~5 minutes prior to your judging sessions.

  • Judging will be done in a single 30-minute session.
  • The 3 judging areas/rubrics and timing is identical to your qualifier and outlined in the Judging Session Flowchart – see Season Resources page.
  • All team members present at the tournament must attend the judging session at your scheduled time.  We do not have time in the schedule for re-arranging team judging slots.
  • We are not allowing any non-team members (adults, parents, coaches or mentors) to attend the judging sessions.
  • There are 6 parallel “pods” of judges. Your team has been assigned to one of the pods and your team needs to make sure that you are attending the right room.
  • You will be presenting to a panel of 2 to 3 judges.  We are unable to use any equipment that may exist in the room and we are unable to promise access to electrical power, etc.   Please take this into consideration.

What to Expect

  • Emergency Contact Number for the day of the tournament is:  (510) 517-8826.  Text is best but leave a message if you have to call and no one picks up.
  • After the team’s 4th competition game round (sometime between 3:00 and 5:00 pm), we need you and the assigned volunteers to focus on clearing the PIT areas – please help.  We will not start the closing ceremony until all PIT areas are completely clean.
  •  We will not provide any team signs or identification but we recommend that you create one to help with team identification.
  • Cancellations CANNOT be accepted. However if you know that you can not attend, the earlier that you can tell us the better, as it may give someone else a chance to come. We can not give refunds even if a replacement team is found.
  • Individual team schedules can not be changed.
  • The pit area is OPEN to the public.
  • Officials (judges, referee, and field crew), the media and some VIPs will be wearing identification for access to the competition floor. NO OTHER PERSONS WILL BE ALLOWED INSIDE THE COMPETITION AREA EXCEPT DURING THEIR TEAM’S ROUNDS. There are no exceptions to this rule.
  • Championship Medals will be handed out to each team member and 1 or 2 coaches during the day along with a team photo opportunity!  Your team does not have a pre-determined time slot.  This must be completed no later than 4pm.
  • Please do not use any other kind of tape or adhesive to hang anything on any wall or floor surface.
  • We would recommend bringing something to cover the surface of your pit table – it may have “rough edges” and someone could end up with a splinter.  It is likely to be wood.
  • Absolutely no food or drink is allowed in any gyms  –  we need everyone’s help in making sure that our hosting facilities do not get mad or charge additional cleaning fees.  We need everyone’s help on this one!
  • If you need to hang out at the PITs for your team, we do recommend that you bring a folding chair with you for the PIT area as seating maybe limited.  Only 2 chairs will be provided at each pit table.
  • Immediately after the team’s 3rd robot game round, each team member may vote on a set of fun, additional optional awards [more info on Kids Choice Award.    Teams will not be able to vote for themselves – so please prep your team.
  • Coaches or other adults that argue/discuss/deliberate/revisit/question/interact or talk  with any referee, judge or other official will be asked to leave! Many times parents and/or coaches don’t realize the intensity of their questioning. We do not want any of our volunteer judges or referees to engage in discussions with anyone other than team members.   We are serious about this.
  • If someone that is not a team member has a question that is not about the robot game and was not addressed in the morning Coaches’ Meeting – then have a nice person  gently ask the Tournament Director  (Jill).
  • Please make sure that you and all people associated with team behave, understand and follow the FIRST Core Values and Gracious Professionalism.  The tournament IS ALL ABOUT AND FOR THE KIDS!
  • We encourage teams to use their downtime to:  observe and ask other team about their robots and projects in order to vote for the Kids Choice Awards!   Also, teams can watch other teams compete, tour the pits, eat (outside – not in the gym area), practice the team’s own presentation, or make final tuning modifications to their own robot or programs.
  • Food and drinks (water, soda) may be sold on site at a reasonable price – this will get posted on the site if available.
  • The event is open and free to the public. Please invite your team’s classmates, teachers, school board members, local media and your colleagues.
  • FLL is a kid-directed activity and all aspects are required to be done by the team members themselves and not the mentors, coaches or others. We may have “roaming” judges wandering the pits and other areas to watch for both positive things such as Gracious Professionalism as well as the negatives such as over-involved parents or coaches. Please do not undermine your team’s chances to be recognized with an award for their efforts.
  • Note that the championships will have a zero tolerance in place for non team members touching robots,  touching computers, etc.  To casual observers  (and our roaming judges) this generally looks like someone else – ie not the team – “doing the work”.    Keep your hands off of project materials,  robots,  LEGO elements,  computers, etc, etc. Remember it is about celebrating the teams’ accomplishments – not yours!
  • Remember, everyone at the tournament is a volunteer and doing the best they can. Please respect each other and let our volunteers know how much you appreciate their efforts.  Remember that we can not put on a tournament without volunteers – please treat them well.
  • Please take note of the weather conditions and have a plan for protecting the team’s presentation and robot from the weather.  Your team will be going between multiple buildings throughout the day.
  • We will be following FLL guidelines in how the awards are given.
    • A team may win up to 2 awards only if one of them is for Robot Performance.
    • The Champion’s Award is based on equal weighting of the team ranks for Robot Game, Core Values, Robot Design and Project.
    • We will be awarding 2 Coach/Mentor awards – and the submission form will be handed out at checkin.  It is expected that this form is filled out by the team members.
    • We do have special recognition awards including the Kids Choice Awards and similar  awards that are not part of the official FLL awards and are completely independent of these guidelines.

 

Awards at all Championships  – see Season Resources page for official award list

Champion’s Award –  1st Place and 2nd Place
Innovation Project –  1st Place and 2nd Place
Robot Design –  1st Place and 2nd Place
Core Values –  1st Place and 2nd Place
Robot Performance –  1st Place and 2nd Place
Coach/Mentor Award – two will be handed out

Additionally, for the larger Championships, we will also be adding at least 1 optional award – most likely the Breakthrough Award