Meet |
Location |
Date |
Address |
| East League Meet 1 | Highland Park High School | Friday Nov 21, 2014 | 433 Vine Ave. Highland Park, IL |
| West League Meet 1 | Barrington High School | Saturday, Nov 15, 2014 | 616 W Main St Barrington, IL |
| East League Meet 2 | Lake Forest High School | Thursday, Dec 18, 2014 | 1285 N McKinley Rd Lake Forest, IL |
| West League Meet 2 | Guilford High School | Friday, Dec 12, 2014 | 5620 Spring Creek Rd Rockford, IL 61114 |
| League Championship | Lundahl Middle School | Saturday, Jan 24, 2015 | 560 Nash Rd Crystal Lake, IL |
As the number of FTC teams increase, U.S. FIRST Tech Challenge believes league play is the best competition structure.
“The primary reason is to create more opportunities for more teams to compete. In addition leagues and meets also reinforce the rapid prototype and design of the FTC program. It also becomes easier for kids and schools to participate, as the events require less of a time commitment and can be run after school (more affordable for busing) and are generally closer geographically. Meets provide a unique learning opportunity - having all those teams there is a chance to highlight or educate on a skill while they are a captive audience. Lastly, leagues and meets promote community: teams interact more and develop closer ties while volunteers have more ownership and investment in the events.”
FTC Leagues and Meets Overview
Illinois FIRST Tech Challenge is preparing for the future by rolling out a limited 2014-15 Hybrid League- Qualifying Tournament System.
Several other states have adopted some form of league play: Florida, Washington state, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Iowa will be adopting it for the 2014-15 season.
In Illinois a league will be made up of 24 teams. These 24 league teams will be divided into two groups of 12 teams. For the 2014-15 FTC season, most of the teams will come from the area north of Lake Cook Road in northern Illinois.
League teams will compete in at least three meets.The third meet will be part of the league championship. At the league championship, leagues #1 and #2 will compete separately, and then the top alliances from each league will compete for the League Championship Finalist Alliance and Winning Alliance.
League meets will be run by the league committee. The committee will be established by the 24 teams and FTC Illinois. This committee will report to the Illinois State FTC Planning Team. U.S. and Illinois FTC will help train essential volunteers: referees, FTAs, field control operators, inspectors, and scorekeepers.
Meet host organizers will be responsible for arranging and scheduling of all volunteers for their event.
At each meet, teams will play 5 matches or more. Meets will not include Alliance Selections, Semi-Finals, Final Matches, or Awards. Instead each league’s team Ranking Points will accumulate and be divided by the number of meets they attend to determine their ranking at the league championship.
During the league championship, teams will have 5 or more matches where they can improve their ranking. This will be followed by Alliance Selection, Semi-Finals, Finals, and Awards. Interviews for judged awards also takes place the morning of the league championship.
Each set of 12 teams will compete in 2 separate meets hosted by teams within their assigned league #1 or #2. The league committees (#1 & #2) will decide where and when meets will occur, and assist the host team with arranging volunteers, equipment set up & cleanup, and running the meet.
“At each meet they participate in, league teams receive Ranking Points based on how they do on the field. There are no Alliance Selections, Semi-Finals, Final Matches, or Awards. The League Championship starts with teams already in ranked order by the average of their total Ranking Points divided by the number of meets they participated in . Their League Championship Ranking Points are then added to their League Ranking Points to determine Team advancement.”
FTC Leagues and Meets Overview
League teams just like teams in the qualifying tournament system will have two opportunities to advance to the state championship.
While in league play, they may attend a qualifying tournament and may advance to the state championship or they may advance at the league championship. Again, the advancement from either the standard qualifying tournament or league championship will follow the order in Game Manual Part 1.
Non-league teams also have two opportunities to advance to the state championship. They may compete at two qualifying tournaments. Non-league teams may not compete at the league championship. Again, advancement will follow the order in Game Manual Part 1.
The number of teams advancing to the state championship is based on the number of teams competing at a qualifying tournament or league championship.
League teams will enter the league championship ranked. The rank is based on their performance at meets instead of earning their ranking based on one day’s performance.
During the third meet held in conjunction with the league championship, they will have another opportunity to improve their ranking before the championship League Semi-Finals.
All coaches, mentors, team members, and volunteers share the responsibility of upholding and modeling GP.
Referees and field staff will be watching for GP. Some game penalties are designed to encourage gracious professionalism on the field.
Reports of gracious professionalism or lack of will follow teams through the league system.
This season formal judging interviews will occur only at the league championship, standard qualifier tournaments and state championship. This will give league teams the opportunity to share their award worthy activities and designs.
This season league play will not have a registration fee.
League teams will will pay the same fees as non-league teams.
The league championship will cost $150, and if they choose to attend a standard qualifying tournament that will also cost $150.
Two meets will be scheduled by the league committee. The committee will consist of at least one coach from each team.
Ideally, one meet will occur in November and the second in December.
The time will vary depending on how many teams attend.
Here is a formula:
Number of teams x # of plays = # total plays
# of total plays divided by 4 teams playing per round = # rounds
># of rounds x minutes per round = # of minutes
Example:
12 teams x 5 rounds = 60 total plays
60 total plays / 4 teams playing per round = 15 rounds
15 rounds x 10 minutes (Playing with 1 field) = 150 minutes or 2.5 hours
Next add inspection times:
# teams x # minutes = time
Time divided by # of hardware/software inspectors
12 x 12 = 144 min. or 2. 4 hours
2.4 hours / 2 = 1. 2 hours
Total amount of time:
Match time + Inspection time = total amount of time
2. 5 hours + 1.2 hours = @4 hours
Add extra time for set up and cleanup.
Hardware Inspection, Software Inspection, Driver’s/Coach’s Meeting, Matches, Cleanup
2 - 3 Referees, 2 Hardware inspectors, 2 Software Inspectors, FCS Inspection, Scorekeeper, Scorekeeper’s Assistant, 1-2 FTA, 2 FCS Operators, Queuer
League teams will be responsible for recruiting most volunteers.
