Cactus Wren Award Ceremony - December 19!

 Tune in to the Cactus Wren Award Ceremony! 

Saturday, December 19 at 10 AM Arizona Time

Live streamed by the CocoNuts

Congrats to all the teams that competed in our first Ultimate Goal Remote Qualifier! 

Good Luck Cactus Wren Teams!

 GOOD LUCK TO THE TEAMS COMPETING AT 
THE CACTUS WREN QUALIFIER!

Good luck to all the teams competing starting tomorrow in the Cactus Wren Qualifier! You are truly pioneers - this is one of the first FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifiers using the remote event hub to take place in North America! GO TEAMS! 

All Teams are invited to join us for the Cactus Wren Award Ceremony, which will be live-streamed Saturday, December 19 at 10:00 am. The link will be posted to the blog! 

EVENT FORMS - You can find the forms your team needs to submit for judging in this folder. When you get ready to compete in a remote qualifier, your team will be given a deadline to upload your judging materials. The forms in this folder include the Control Award and Request for Judging Feedback. 

DEAN'S LIST - The deadline to nominate sophomore or junior students from your team for January Events (Petrified Wood and Palo Verde) is TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15 at 11:59 PM EST. A lot of teams are competing in these events so don't wait! Find out more about the Dean's List and how to nominate your students HERE. 

TEAM WEBINARS - FIRST is offering another series of webinars for teams on competing in a remote environment. Recordings of the previous webinars can be found here. 

• Remote Judging - Dec. 14 at 9:05 PM EST
• Remote Scoring - Dec. 15 at 8:05 PM EST
• Remote Gameplay - Dec. 17 at 8:05 PM EST

ARE YOU READY??? Qualifiers Start Next Week!!!!

 
It's almost time to play Ultimate Goal! Whether you're munching rings or flinging them through the air, it's time to showcase what you can do! 

Spam Anyone? 

We're getting reports from some coaches that emails coming from FIRST officials are ending up in spam folders. Please check your spam folders and look for emails from Christine, Patti, Dave and Susan. Please add us to your approved senders - we don't want you to miss out on important updates - many schools are tightening email server security. And of course, remember to check the blog early and often! 

Payment Deadline

Please remember to submit your payment for your qualifiers by December 18. We use your entry fees to pay for such essentials as awards, fields, and everything needed to run our events! Teams that don't meet the deadline will incur a late fee. 

A message from Head Referee Rich

“Teams are strongly encouraged to review the most recent Game Manuals posted on the Game Season Website.  A recent change in the Game Manual 2 clarifies how the Power Shot Goals may be scored…  in quick…  

The ring has to directly contact the power shot goal to score.  At the COVID Classic Scrimmage, a Team asked about hitting the bottom support bar hard enough that it causes the Power Shot Goals to move from Forward to Back position.  I had not seen this update to the scoring so my response indicating it should count is not correct.  The only way to score Power Shot Goals is for the Ring to hit the colored element. 

 

Best Wishes to all teams out there, I miss seeing you all and feel free to email any questions

Ref Rich”

Don't Forget - secure your spot at our qualifiers!

We have many teams that still haven't registered for their 2020/2021 qualifying tournaments. Please remember that while we have all our events listed as remote, we hope to be able to shift some to traditional in-person events as conditions allow. Please don't wait to register - some events are close to capacity! And as always, stay safe, healthy & positive and continue to hope for turn for the better in the pandemic!

Event Lists & Capacity

Speaking of event capacity....Listed to the right on the blog is our new current list of spots available at each event. Did you know that you can view registered teams and results on the FIRST website? Check it out here! (Note: teams will only appear on the event page once added to the event hub by Patti.) If you'd like to see who's gearing up to play with you, check out the current team list here. 

Qualifiers Kickoff Next Week!

Good luck to all the teams competing in the Cactus Wren Qualifier starting next week! If you're team is competing, you'll receive a link to a Google drive to load your photos and videos from your competition to showcase at the award ceremony. The award ceremonies from each event will be live-streamed on the CocoNuts' YouTube Channel. Links will be posted here to the blog - be sure to tune in! 

Season Updates from FIRST

• Remote Judging - Tips and Tricks
• Game Manual Updates
• Game Play Quiz - test your knowledge before playing remotely!
• Remote Scoring System Quiz - test your knowledge before playing remotely!
• Mentoring a FIRST Team Remotely Training

Coaches and Mentors - Patti needs your input

"Greetings Coaches & Mentors,

Our AmeriCorps VISTAs are working on a project to help recruit and retain mentors by providing or making accessible any resources that are currently lacking. In order to do so, they have created two surveys, one for coaches and one for mentors, to find out what is working and what needs to be improved. If you could fill out your respective survey or forward to any other coaches/mentors on your team, that would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to reach out to Patti Strones with any questions."

COACH SURVEY

MENTOR SURVEY