Volunteering for FIRST Tech Challenge

Volunteering for Northern California FTC

Overview
FIRST Tech Challenge is an exciting competition that develops critical skills in science and technology in a super-charged learning atmosphere. Small teams of high school students design, build, program and test a Tetrix-based robot. Students acquire skills such as problem solving, project management, critical thinking and teamwork: skills necessary to their future and the future of society.

This FTC season, 38 Nor Cal teams of up to 10 members will compete in the Northern California Championship. We need two types of volunteers: specialty roles (such as judges and referees) that require training or prior experience, and general roles that do not. We are seeking adult volunteers for both types of positions, but can also utilize high school students for some of the general roles.

To volunteer for a General Role ,

We are using a self-assign form all General Roles [see below for descriptions for most roles]:
                     Youth (High School or older),
                     Adults (includes college students, team parents)

        Note if you are not part of a team (FLL, FTC, or FRC), you are welcome to put in a
                company or organization affiliation for the "Team" line or just leave it blank.

For specialty volunter roles: send email to ftcvolunteer@playingatlearning.org.

FIRST Standards of Conduct for Volunteers [Word Doc, PDF]
Judges and Refs must be adults that are not affliated with a 2009-2010 FTC team.

.... But I don't know anything about Engineering or Robots!? and other misconceptions
Each event requires many volunteers with a broad spectrum of talents to support teams, volunteers, audience members and competition demands. We cannot hold the competitions without volunteers. A variety of volunteer positions are available including both technical and non-technical. Many positions are available for those with no prior experience with robotics or even similar competitions. Training for judges and referees is available. The best judges are those that are interested in supporting youth and asking questions. Judging is an interview and observation type of activity.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) developed this robotics competition. . Learn more about usfirst.org

Help Recruit

Please help recruit additional volunteers: Pass this URL along to anyone you think may be interested in volunteering. FTC tournaments are fast-moving, exciting, and rewarding. One you will remember!

Why Volunteer? It's Fun! It's Inspiring! and it does Make a Difference. FIRST Works!

Volunteer Positions Needed:		Share-Able?	HS Youth Accepted?
Specialty Roles
	Referee - training required	No	No
	Judge - training required	No	No
	Robot Inspector- training recommended	Yes	Maybe
	Scorekeeper- training available	No	No
	Field Technical Advisor - training required	No	No
	Field Manager	No	No
	Pit Boss	No	No
	Pit Admin	Yes	No
	Software Helpdesk - Labview	Yes	Yes
	Software Helpdesk - RobotC	Yes	Yes
	Queue Manager	Prefer not	No
	Emcee - training available	Yes	Yes
	Play by Play Announcer	Yes	Yes
	Field Reset Crew - training available	Yes	Yes


Volunteer Positions Needed:		Share-Able?	HS Youth Accepted?
General Tournament Roles
	DJ	Prefer not	Yes
	Pit Crew & Security	Yes	Yes
	Volunteer Registration	No	Yes
	PIT Cleanup Crew	Yes	Yes
	Competition Floor Cleanup Crew	Yes	Yes
	Team Check-In	No	Yes
	Information / Welcome Desk	Yes	Maybe
	Judging Assistant	Yes	Yes
	First Aid	Yes	Maybe
	Concession Sales	Yes	Yes
	Photographer	Yes	Yes
	Videographer	Yes	Yes
	Team Runner	Yes	Yes

Dress Code is Casual - you will probably want to wear comfortable shoes. Judges will be sitting for part of the day and walking around talking / observing teams the rest of the day; Referees will be mostly standing.

Since Judges and Referees are the decision making crew of a tournament, we require that they be adults that are not affiliated with a 2009-2010 FTC team - this is why we need you!

Getting Involved

Like other judging activities such as science fairs, there is a set of criteria that are defined to help evaluate teams. Volunteering for FTC is a great way to get involved to help budding young scientists and engineers launch their careers, as well as to increase the supply of technical professionals that will be available to industry a few years from now. It’s also an easy and fun way to get involved in the community. Additionally, we love when companies step up to host an event, as that has an amazing impact not just on the youth but also on their parents and family.

Almost any adult can be a judge or referee. Among the common concerns or misconceptions:

I’m not qualified. For judging, most any adult would be able to evaluate the teams in many of the areas. In addition, judges work in teams and we try to pair experienced judges with rookies. Experience with robotics, software, mechanics or Tetrix robots is not required, but is helpful to have technical aptitude for judging the robot design awards.
It’s too hard to learn. As to judges, most tournaments already have a group of experienced judges to help newcomers learn - the program is growing so fast that we always need more. We provide training materials as well as conference calls to answer questions. The referees' role is a bit more complicated - the game changes each year. The game rules require attention to detail during the fast paced nature of each match. There is good training available including both self-paced and conference calls.
It’s too big a committment. Tournaments need just a few hours of training ahead of the day, plus the one-time appearance of about 8 hours. While we have a great group of "serial volunteers" and who would love to see again, organizers understand if you can’t make it to multiple events or even every year due to personal committments, travel or work deadlines.
It’s too far to go. We have teams coming in from all major areas of Northern California - if driving is an issue, we can try to coordinate a carpool.

Last Updated: 02/20/2010 2:14 PM