Friday, February 15, 2019

Rules Reminders for Championship

Hey Championship teams, 
We hope you're all crazy excited for the AZ & NM Championship event next week in Flagstaff! As we get closer, we'd like to remind you of a few rules to help you have a great event. 

Be sure to come to the field with a charged battery. If we're waiting for a battery to be replaced while a robot is being placed on the field, a delay of game penalty will be called. 

Be sure that when you place your robot in the latched position that it easily clears the 4" required to be considered latched. We saw some teams riding a razor thin margin a few times. If your robot doesn't meet the 4" margin right away, you will have one chance to correct it. After that, the match will be played and the team will not get points for deploying in autonomous. 

We gave 4 yellow cards for violations of rule S2, robot arm extensions outside the field perimeter. Please keep your robot under control and our field crew safe!

Remember to play the game to the best of your team's ability, and not try to play a strategy that exploits the game rules. Teams have been doing a great job of this so far this season - Keep It Up!

If there is a question about a call on the field, remember that only ONE team member may stand in the question box to address the Head Referee. We will not review photos or videos or matches. 

It's a good idea to review both Game Manuals and the Rules Updates prior to the competition, especially if your team qualified early and hasn't played recently. 

This should go without saying, but remember that each team only gets one robot. Many schools have multiple teams, and some teams may be moving forward to the Championship while others are not. Each team must bring the robot that played and qualified to the Championship. Teams may not swap their robot out for another team's. While we expect that modifications will be made to the robot throughout the season, showing up with an entirely different robot is grounds for disqualification. See Rule T7 in Game Manuel Part 1 for more details.  

Most Important Rule: GRACIOUS PROFESSIONALISM
Gracious Professionalism is about more than just your interactions on the field or in the judging room, it's about how your team interacts with EVERYONE, including everyone within your team. We have over 100 volunteers coming to make this event special for you. If a team member, coach, mentor or parent is rude to any volunteer or to another team, it will be reported to the Judge Advisor. We can and will disqualify teams from awards for poor behavior on or off the playing field...we've done it before, and will do it again if necessary.

We remind you of this so that ALL teams, volunteers, and spectators have the best possible experience, and come away inspired, no matter the outcome of the tournament. Remember, whether your team wins an award or finishes first or last, making it to the Championship is worth celebrating! If you're coming to the Championship with the mindset of providing a great experience for the hardworking students, then we welcome you! 

Please take some time with your team to review Gracious Professionalism and the FIRST Core Values prior to the competition. We highly recommend page 7 of Game Manual Part 1 and the video by Dr. Woodie Flowers explaining GP.

GO CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS!!!!!

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