NorCal FLL-C

 FIRST Lego League Challenge RePLAY

Helpful Tips To Get Started:

  1. Learn how FIRST Lego League Challenge works
  2. Review the Costs of FLL Challenge
  3. Start or Join a Team
  4. Register your team with FIRST-Registration typically closes in September
  5. Communication with Playing At Learning
  6. Resources
  7. Register for a Tournament-Should Open in October
  8. Define your Team Goals
  9. Helpful Resources for Coaching During a Pandemic

How FIRST LEGO League Challenge Works:

  • The yearly challenge has 3 parts related to an annual theme:  Core Values, Project and Game.  The exact details are published at the Challenge Kickoff which will happen in August.
  • Teams use the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kit or SPIKE Prime kit to design/build an autonomous robot to compete in a FIRST-designed game.
  • Each team will build a robot that is made only of LEGO elements and (read this year’s rules!) most often has a limit of 4 motors and specific types of sensors along with exactly 1 LEGO controller.
  • Teams will program their robot in a LEGO Mindstorms visual programming environment or with the SPIKE Prime software.
  • The project puts the annual theme (Game Changers for the 2020 RePLAY Season) into a real-world context and typically has 3 components.
    • Look at a problem  (also called research);
    • Propose a solution;
    • Share results with others
  • Rookie coach workshops generally to be scheduled for August and September with informal grassroots-organized scrimmages starting in October.
  • FIRST LEGO League Challenge is about the kids’ efforts and kids work in a team. It is good for rookie teams to start before the challenge kickoff to start learning and understanding how to work together as a team and also to learn about the equipment.
  • Tournaments are like sporting events with judges and awards and are typically all day, high energy events with music, announcers and encouragement for all!
  • Teams are judged in 3 areas at a tournament:  Core Values, Project, and Robot. All judged areas PLUS  Robot Performance (Robot Game) is a consideration for the Champion’s Award as well as for advancing to the Regional Championship.  All aspects are  important.    

Cost of FIRST LEGO League Challenge per team:

  • The average rookie team without any equipment will spend approximately $1500.  All fees collected from FIRST and Playing At Learning are per team, not per individual. 
  • 2021 cost details
  • Most teams divide costs equally amongst team members. 
  • Teams need at least one LEGO robotics kit – SPIKE Prime is the most current model. The vast majority of teams have only 1 kit.   If you are buying a new one, the FIRST LEGO League robot kit bundle is the cheapest for the number and type of LEGO elements that you get
    • The robot kit will be reused each year and only needs to purchased once.
    • We don’t recommend using “personal” LEGO elements or robot kits for the team due to potential for conflict around missing or broken pieces
  • Teams may seek sponsors and many teams create a team tshirt listing any sponsor.  As a registered team, you are also able to use the FIRST logos as well as the current year theme logos.  More information about using the trademarked FIRST logos.

 

 

Starting or Joining a Team: 

  • Anyone can form and organize a team! Don’t feel like you have to do it alone, we have resources and are here to help you.
    • Teams can be formed around a school classroom, after-school program, extracurricular group, home school, a group of friends, neighborhood kids, a club, or civic organization  – basically any way that a small group of young people get together.
    • The definition of a team is that it consists of 2 to 10 kids that are age eligible, and at least two adult coaches.
    • The vast majority of teams form among kids and/or  parents that have an existing relationship of some sort   – new to the area or want to connect with others?  Post on social.norcalfllc.org group
    • For a number of reasons, it is difficult for us to match an individual with a team. Typically, we encourage interested individuals to consider forming their own team through people that they already know. Need help getting started, email us at fll@playingatlearning.org.
    • We do have a few FLL Ambassadors that have stepped forward to help people connect in local communities – if you are interested in being an Ambassador, let us know. We need more people!
  •  FIRST Participation Rules
    • Every team must have at least two screened  Adult coaches 
    • Team members are between the ages of 9 to 14 OR in grades 4-8.   (NOTE that this is a change starting for the 2021 season)
    • A child can only be a team member on one team.
    • A coach can be the coach for multiple teams. For example, a teacher could be the coach for multiple teams in their classroom.
  • On average, teams have 4 to 6 members which we recommend as a great size but up to 10 members per team is allowed.  
    • If your team has more than 10 members participating at any time  during the season, they are ineligible to win any awards.    Ten members is a strictly enforced limit.
    • Generally, younger students have issues with the intense, team-oriented nature of FIRST LEGO League.  Issues range from  attention span, ability to work in a team, ability to keep “on task”, and overall student interest.  Keep this in mind when deciding how large, or small, your team will be. 
  • It is fine to seek sponsors but not necessary, see our 2021 Cost page for a sample team budget.

How to Register Your Team with FIRST:

  • Create an account and Register the team with FIRST .  The National Team registration typically opens in May each year.  Most years, the national team registration closes in September. There is a maximum number of teams that can register, so register early.  For the pandemic seasons (2020, 2021, ?), registration has remained open longer.
    • You will not be asked WHO  (ie the team roster) is on the team when you register the team. 
    • The person registering and paying for the team (Team Administrator) can be a different person than the coach or co-coach.  
    • If your team  does not have access to a LEGO robotics kit – Order SPIKE Prime kit (as early as possible) to start learning about the programming and building a few basic ‘bot designs    Other pre-season ideas
  • Build FIRST LEGO League Challenge Table  (piece of standard plywood with 2×3 side walls )
  • Read the Coaches Handbook on the FIRST LEGO League Team Resources page and check out all of the additional resources that we have found to help with building, programming and other skills that the team will need
  • If possible, participate in local Kickoff Event(s) if available to learn about the challenge details in person.
  • Register for workshops in August or September – check out our Events Page
  • Review the NorCal Tournament registration requirements and instructions Do not skip this step it is very important!!!

NorCal FLL Communication:

  1. Norcalfll Google Announce Group
    • Primary – MANDATORY:  It is expected that every FLL Challenge team in Northern California have at least 1 person that joins this list and receives email (and pays attention to the content).  This is an open list and any one can join.   Important:  Check your settings to confirm that you are set to receive email.
  2. NorCal FLL Facebook page
    • Optional:  We use facebook to promote NorCal FIRST activities, post pictures, links to streamed FLL events elsewhere in the world, and similar general interest topics about Playing At Learning, FIRST, and FLL Challenge.
  3. NorCal FLL Twitter (@norcalfll)
    • Optional:  Used lightly (we are looking into how to engage better using twitter) to promote interesting FLL topics as well as promote local activities.

NorCal FLL uses the following websites for information:

  1. www.norcalfllc.org
    • Most Important: Used for Northern California information such as tournament registration, local team status and publishing events like upcoming coach trainings, local grants, etc
  2. social.norcalfllc.org
    • Very useful:  We have created a dedicated social site just for NorCal FLL that has options for you to create local community events (like scrimmages, practice tournaments, project presentation reviews, outreach opportunities, etc) as well as join a local area group email list to more easily communicate among the teams in a smaller geographical area than all of “NorCal”.   You can read most of the items without logging in but you will need to create an account (that has to be approved) before posting anything.
  3. championship.norcalfllc.org
    • Important: Used to communicate specific information related to the Northern California Regional District Championship Tournaments.  This includes information such as locations/dates, and registration status.
  4. firstlegoleague.org
    • Important: Used for overall FIRST LEGO League information such as  the annual Challenge details, how judging works, and the evaluation rubrics.
  5. firstinspires.org
    • Important: Used for US-specific FIRST LEGO League items such as national team registration, official event listings, volunteer signups as well as information about FIRST other programs
  6. playingatlearning.org and theplayspace.org
    • Used very infrequently for FLL specific items.  Team members can sign up for FLL-based summer camps on theplayspace.org site.

Resources

Tournament Registration:

  • Registering your team with FIRST does not register your team for a tournament.
  • Playing At Learning handles tournament registration as well as provides local training and support for teams. 
    • All NorCal Qualifier tournaments are in January for the 2021/2022 Cargo Connect Season
    • All NorCal Regional  Championship tournaments are scheduled for February for the 2021/2022 Cargo Connect Season
  • We have updated the qualifier tournament registration process for 2021
  • When the Team List goes live each season, the last column is a “Status” link.   If you click that, it will bring up the latest FIRST eligibility status (based on the last time that we downloaded information from FIRST HQ – it is not automatic download) AND the latest NorCal status.
    • The primary coach (aka Coach1) will receive an email with a special coach account for logging into norcalfllc.org site
    • Using the special coach account, If you have not paid or completed the Team Information Form or uploaded your team roster, the team’s status will have the links for you to do so .
    • If the Coach1 hands off the account information to a different adult, only that person will then be able to pay, complete the forms and register the team.  Only 1 person will be able to be logged in and use that account at a time.  The system will log out multiple users with the same credentials!
  • The concept of districts remains essentially the same.  There may be some tweaking of the borders but likely will remain essentially the same. For the 2021 Cargo Connect Season we will not have districts. 
  • Early Bird Tournament Registration. We are not doing Early Bird Registration this season.
  • Important to know and comprehend,  District Championships only accept the teams that advanced from their specific qualifier tournaments.  So if you choose to move to a different district by registering for a qualifier outside your district area, you may get the opportunity to travel to a District Championship that is not the closest one to you. Since all of our events are remote/virtual we will not have districts this season. 

 

  • There is a lot of information here, please email fll@playingatlearning.org if you have any questions or need help with registration. We want to help you and your team!

Defining Goals and Expectations

One of the first things is to help the team members understand the various roles and responsibilities of the team – what has to be done – FIRST LEGO League is not about the robot game only. It is important to have the team members set their own goals and agree on the expectations for the team.  These goals need to also be communicated to the other people affiliated with the team – parents, mentors and co-coaches, so that everyone is working towards the common goals.  Meeting these goals will define success for the team – FIRST LEGO League is not about winning awards, it is about discovery and inspiring young people.

The coach can help remove confusion for when the team is meeting by helping the team to create a timeline.  Meeting on a regular basis to review the status of these action items will relay the importance of teamwork, as well as reinforce time management and prioritizing. It is not uncommon for a team’s timeline, roles & responsibilities, action list, and expectations to change through the season.

Try to keep in mind that the FIRST experience extends beyond the deadlines, the competition and robot performance. The FIRST program is designed as a team-building and problem-solving learning experience for children. Once these goals are achieved, your team has already won!

Links for Coaching in the Time of COVID:

 

  • Remote Core Values/Team Building Games/Quizzes/Entertainment:
    • Jackbox
    • Kahoot
    • Quizziz
    • Escape Rooms (Teachers Helping Teachers)
    • Breakout EDU
    • Flipgrid
    • Telestrations