We hope everyone is getting excited for this very different season. We released information previously about the season’s offerings here. Teams have the opportunity to compete remotely for awards amongst all of our At Home Challenges as well as the traditionally submitted awards. The process will be a little different this year and we wanted to share a little more information about the judging process, so our teams know what to expect.
At Home Challenges
The At Home Challenges are:
- the Game Design Challenge,
- the FIRST Innovation Challenge presented by Qualcomm, and
- INFINITE RECHARGESM at Home
For each challenge, teams will be divided into groups, regardless of their location, and compete with other teams in that group (e.g. a team from Australia may be in the same group as a team from Michigan). Each group will have approximately 30 teams (range is between 25-35 teams) pending total number of teams participating. If a team is participating in multiple challenges, their group for INFINITE RECHARGE at Home, for example, may not be their group for the Game Design Challenge.
Judging of these challenges is not restricted regionally because we have no history to inform the number of teams that will compete in each challenge, and we want to avoid the possibility of groups ending up so small that awards would not be meaningful. Also, we value the mixing of teams from all over the world as is seen at some Regionals and FIRST Championship.
Additional information about the At Home Challenges will be released at the 2021 Kickoff!
Traditionally Submitted Awards
When we say “traditionally submitted awards” in the context of the 2021 FRC season, we’re talking about the Chairman’s Award, Dean’s List Award, and Woodie Flowers Award. For these awards, teams will be grouped by geographic location, as listed below. Each region will be able to award a specific number of Chairman’s Awards, Dean’s List Awards, and Woodie Flowers Finalist Awards. The exact number of awards for each region, and how that number will be determined, will be announced later.
| Region Name | States/Countries included in the Region |
|---|---|
| Caribbean + South American Region | Brazil and Dominican Republic |
| Central Asia, Africa, and Europe Region | Afghanistan, India, Lesotho, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Ukraine, and United Kingdoms |
| China Region | China |
| FIRST Chesapeake District | D.C., Maryland, and Virginia |
| FIRST Indiana District | Indiana |
| FIRST Israel District | Israel |
| FIRST in Michigan District | Michigan |
| FIRST in Texas District | Texas and New Mexico |
| FIRST Mid-Atlantic District | Delaware, New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania |
| FIRST North Carolina District | North Carolina |
| Florida Region | Florida |
| Greater Central Valley Region | California – Central Valley/Northern Central California |
| Greater Los Angeles Region | California – Orange/Los Angeles/Inland Empire |
| Greater San Diego Region | California – San Diego |
| Greater San Francisco Bay Region | California – Greater San Francisco Bay Area/Northern CA Coast |
| Illinois Region | Illinois |
| Mexico Region | Mexico |
| Midwestern Plains Region | Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma |
| MoKan Region | Kansas and Missouri |
| NE FIRST District | Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont |
| New York & Quebec Region | New York and Quebec |
| Ontario District | Canada – Ontario |
| Pacific Northwest District | Alaska, Oregon, and Washington |
| Pacific Region | Australia, Chinese Taipei, Hawaii, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and Vietnam |
| Peachtree District | Georgia |
| Rocky Mountain Region | Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Western Canada, and Wyoming |
| Southeastern Region | Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi |
| Southern Appalachian Region | Kentucky, South Carolina, and Tennessee |
| Southwestern Region | Arizona and Nevada |
| Turkish Region | Turkey |
| Upper Midwest Region | Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota |
| Upper Ohio River Region | Ohio, West Virginia, and Western PA |
| Wisconsin Region | Wisconsin |
This region-based approach for traditionally submitted awards differs from the approach to the At Home Challenges because we have a history with these awards and believe a sufficient number of teams will submit to keep the awards meaningful, even in the smallest regions. Also, the Chairman’s Award and Dean’s List Award are best judged locally among local competitors.
Within a few weeks of the submission portal closing, Judge Advisors (JAs) will randomly assign participating teams to interview time slots. They will contact teams via email to notify them accordingly (if a team cannot accommodate their assigned slot, they should let the JA know so it can be rescheduled).
Teams can find additional info on the interview process and submission info here!
Virtual Chairman’s Award Chat
At FIRST Championship, we typically host a Chairman’s Award Chat, an opportunity to ask questions from the experts and learn what approach other winning teams take. Due to the remote nature of our season and to allow all teams to be able to attend, we will host a virtual Chairman’s Award Chat on December 3rd, 8pm – 9:30pm ET. This call will feature Chairman’s Award Judges and Hall of Fame representatives (i.e. previous Chairman’s Award Winners, including team members who presented and won the 2019 FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award). Register today!