Information for Attending Teams

Parking

Parking is available free in the designated parking lot adjacent to the Hall.

Food

Concessions (including coffee in the morning) will be available for teams throughout the day.

Teams may bring their own food to the competition. You may bring your own coolers with food and drinks, but it is your team’s responsibility to ensure it is kept out of the way and to clean up after yourselves.

This is an all-day event. We encourage you to bring a refillable water bottle.

How to Access the Team Roster

To access your Team Roster, login to your FIRST account and press ‘Print Roster’ under the ‘Contact Options’ button. If you have registered all your team members as students on this team, and they have completed their electronic Consent & Release forms, then you only need to provide this printout at registration. Otherwise, you need to collect paper Print & Release forms from all participants (including mentors and coaches).

Dress

Dress for all teams is casual. In fact, we encourage your team to adopt a fun and unique team identity, which allows others to understand something about your team, your engineering experience, or your Project or Inspire Model. Think smart marketing! Remember to HAVE FUN!

Virtual participants are encouraged to dress up similar to an in-person event.

Team Check-in

Coaches must submit the following for their teams to the team check-in volunteers:

• Team Roster: Download your team roster from the Team Registration System, print a copy, and bring it to team check-in. Staple additional FIRST^® Consent and Release Forms to the Team Roster for any team member or coach who does not have an electronic consent form on file. A FIRST^® Consent form is required for every team member, coach, and mentor who will be with the team during the competition day.

Your team will receive the following at Team Registration:

• Schedule of Events: Your team will be provided information about the tournament day, including a competition schedule.

Pit Area

The Pit is where your team will spend most of the time. This is where you will work on your robot and programming. This is also the area where you can enjoy downtime with your team, get to know other teams, see their robots, and find out about their Projects. Your team will have access to:

• One standard-sized table
• Electricity – Bring an extension cord and a power strip, as your access point will consist of a single outlet/plug. A power strip will allow you to charge your robot and your laptop at the same time.

We recommend that you bring the following for your team to have in the Pit Area:

• A bin or large bags (like trash bags) to store personal belongings, like coats, under your table
• Your robot and all your robot supplies (attachments and additional building pieces)
• Your laptop computer and power cord
• An extension cord and power strip
• A box or small bin to carry your robot and attachments to and from the competition area
• A team display board
• A team banner or other team sign – to hang from your pit table and carry for Opening & Closing Ceremonies
• Games (there will be long periods of downtime – bring some small games that the team can play when things are slow)
• Items to share with other teams (optional) – At many tournaments, teams bring something little that says something about their team that they can share with other teams (e.g. A team might pass out Kiss candies with a note to remind teams about the K.I.S.S. principle, “Keep It Simple, Silly.”). Or whatever else you would like to share that says something about your team, your school, your Project, your robot, etc.

Some Pit Area Rules for you to keep in mind:

• Coaches should NEVER work on the robot, the attachments or the robot programming. In fact, coaches should refrain from handling the robot, attachments or the computer – save your internet surfing for another time. A team that violates this may be ineligible for award. NOTE: If your team encounters technical difficulty, let someone at the tournament know so that the officials at the event understand why a coach might need to handle a robot or work on the computer.
• Teams may not program their robot using Bluetooth. They must program it using a wired connection between the robot and a laptop computer.

Judging Information for Teams

Judging

For 2025, team judging begins at 8:50 AM. Each team will be judged within a single thirty (30) minute judging block. The breakdown of the judging follows the official FIRST guidelines (see more here).

Teams may bring a PowerPoint or similar presentation, but this is not recommended. If a team elects to do this, they are responsible for providing a laptop to show the presentation and a projector or monitor to enlarge the presentation. A power outlet may not be available to power either the projector or the laptop. Time to setup the presentation will be taken from the team’s interview time.

Spectator Policy

Team members, parents, and coaches are permitted in the judging rooms.

• Judges have discretion whether to allow spectators to videotape or photograph the judging session. Ask the judges upon arrival.
• All spectators must remain in the designated areas in front of the judges.
• All spectators are expected to be silent through the judging period. They should not attempt to influence the judges in any way.
• All cell phones (for team members and coaches) must be turned off/on silent during the judging session.

Coach Award Nominations

The students on all teams should prepare one Coach Award nomination.

In your nomination, indicate:

• The name(s) of your nominee(s). You may nominate more than one person if you have multiple coaches that you want to recognize for each award. For example, you may want to recognize a husband-wife team that has helped your team.
• Your team name and number.
• Up to a one-page description of the impact the coach has had on your team. Include personal stories and testimonials. Submissions are not evaluated on spelling or grammar, but try to have another coach or parent proof-read your submission.

Students should submit nominations via email before the event to the Tournament Director or submit paper copies to pit administration during the event. All nominations are kept confidential.