Director's Messages

6th Coach Email blast

2011-10-17T13:23:00.002-04:00

Hello teams,

Welcome to another wonderful week of FLL! :) I have some VERY important issues to address in this email so please make sure to read through each one.
1) Tournament Registration
2) Robot Design Executive Summary - RDES (Robot presentation requirement - NEW this year!)
3) Advancement Policy to move from Qualifying Tournament to Provincial Championships
4) Training Opportunities - don't miss out!

1) Tournament Registration
Tournament registration closes this Friday. If you have not registered for your qualifying tournament, please do so by the end of this week. They are on a first-come, first-served basis with some consideration given to geography. If you are new to FLL this year, please note that the registration you did in September was your "TEAM Registration". What we're talking about now is your "TOURNAMENT Registration" and this IS separate. Please go to this page on our site to find the tournaments available. On a side note, our Ottawa tournament is still looking for teams so if are interested in heading East to the beautiful city of Ottawa for field trip, please go ahead and sign up for that.

2) Robot Design Executive Summary (RDES)
The RDES is a pilot in which Ontario is participating. In a nutshell, it's something you need to create ahead of time to use during the Robot Design Judging session to provide a structured way for the judges to get to know what's going on with your robot. There is a document attached to this email outlining the full details of the RDES. Please read through it and make sure you are prepared. All tournaments in Ontario, including the Provincial Championships, will be following this new procedure for the Robot Design Judging process.
3) Advancement Policy
Teams often ask about how they can move on to the next stage. First of all, please keep in mind that the goal of FLL is not to "get to the next level" or "win an award", but to inspire children with respect to science and technology and to ensure they have fun throughout the process/experience. Each tournament they attend (whether it is a qualifier or the provincials) should be viewed as a celebration of their learning and a chance to learn from the other fantastic teams they meet.

Having said that, here is the information regarding advancement:

For the purposes of advancement to Provincial Championships, teams at tournaments will be assessed against the Champions' criteria and ranked accordingly against the other teams at the tournament. Each tournament is allocated a certain number of advancement "spots" based on the size of the tournament (ie. the more teams at a tournament, the more spots that tournament will be given at the Provincial Championships based on a standard percentage). So, if the tournament you're attending is sending three teams on to the Provincial Championships then your team would have to be one of the top 3 teams ranked according to the Champions' criteria. More information about this can be found on the FLL FAQ page located here: http://firstlegoleague.org/event/judgingfaq

4) Training Opportunities!
This week we have our last two training webinars for coaches and a fantastic symposium on Saturday. All training past, present, and future is FREE - all details can be found here.
Tuesday 7 p.m. Online: Core Values and Research Project
Wednesday, 7 p.m. Online: Intermediate Programming 102
Saturday, 9 a.m. Face-to-face: FIRST Robotics Symposium with many workshops planned.

By the way, if you've missed any of my email blasts or don't want to do a search for them in your inbox, they are all posted on my blog here.

Take care and have a great week!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

5th Coach Email blast

2011-10-14T23:38:00.002-04:00

For a few weeks now I've been promoting the Oakville Robotics Symposium on the 22nd. Hopefully you saved the date and are ready to register. The workshops being provided are by current and past coaches with tons of great experience. I've attached the list of workshops that will be available to you - as promised, there's something for everyone! Whether you are a rookie or a veteran, I would highly recommend you attend if at all possible. This is a mentor-only event so please leave the kids at home. You may bring your own robot, pieces, and laptop if you wish to build and program throughout the day.

To register for the event please go here, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the FLL registration link.
This is a video walking you through the workshop sign-up sheet if you need it.

Chris Hadfield will also be speaking to the entire group of attendees at the end of the day. It's going to be a great event you won't want to miss!

Looking forward to seeing you there,

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

4th Email Blast to Coaches

2011-10-11T17:14:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone,

The big news today is that Tournament Registration is now officially open. You can find all the information regarding the tournaments on this page of our site. Some tournaments are using the Team Registration and Events (TRE) system to handle registration (the same system in which you registered your team). Some are simply asking you to email the Tournament Director directly. Either way, the information is posted on our site.

The second thing is that I want to make sure that you're all aware of the upcoming training available, both online and face-to-face - PLEASE take advantage of these great resources for you and your team to succeed. This week we have a session on what to expect with respect to judging at a tournament (tonight) and a session on robot building (Thursday night - NOTE date change). We have more online sessions next week and the list can be found here. In addition, we're having a FIRST Robotics Symposium at St. Mildred's Lightbourne School in Oakville on Saturday, October 22nd. General details regarding that day can be found here but a tentative schedule of FLL workshops are listed in the attachment. Please take advantage of these training opportunities as much as possible. The Symposium looks like a great day with Chris Hadfield rounding out the day!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

3rd Email blast to Food Factor Coaches

2011-10-03T23:42:00.002-04:00

Hello Coaches,

I hope you're having a great time with the kids so far this season! Here's your third blast from me this season. In this blast you'll have info about Team Registration and Tournament Registration, as well as upcoming Coach Training (if you've missed any of my blasts you can check them out on my blog here).

1) The Team Registration system is now closed. Final registrations are being processed and a grand total will be announced shortly but we have had a HUGE growth in Ontario this season which is VERY exciting! Welcome to all the new teams across Ontario - there are over 100 of you!!

2) Tournament Registration will open soon. We're just working out final details on those tournaments and an email blast will come out to you in the next week with final details regarding Tournament Registration. Keep an eye for that email!!

3) Lastly, our Online Coach Training series continues this week with a workshop on Wednesday evening starting at 7 p.m. This week's topic: Intermediate Programming 101. Next week's topic is also a hot one for many teams: "Everything U Wanted to Know About Judging". Get all the details and tons of other resources (including downloadable archives of past weeks' topics) here. The rest of the series will be posted shortly.

Have a great week everyone!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

2nd Email Blast to Food Factor Teams

2011-09-27T22:09:00.002-04:00

Hello Coaches,

I just wanted to touch base with you on a few things at this time.

First of all, please note tomorrow's training session which is aimed at ALL coaches who are interested. The focus will be discussing the robot game, rules, clarifications, and common strategies used to be successful. You will need to log in to register for this online training which is starting at 7 p.m. For more information please go to our Training and Resources page. On this page, you'll also see other upcoming Coach Training opportunities and resources. Check back often as it is updated weekly. In preparation for tomorrow's workshop, I would suggest you watch this 7 minute video on Youtube. If you missed one of our previous trainings, they will be posted on the website at the same link above (one is already up from last week).
Team Registration is almost closed for the Food Factor Challenge. If you are still recruiting someone to compete, please note that registration closes on Sept. 30th.
If you are a veteran team and are looking to mentor a rookie team, please email me to make a connection with that team. There is some funding available if you are interested in doing so. If you are an FLL team interested in mentoring, documentation regarding the funding is here.
Tournament registration will open shortly after Team registration closes. I will email you, post it on my blog, and on our website when it is open and at that time you can register your team for your tournament.
Read your Coaches' Manual - it's your guide to success. Pay attention to the rubrics and the timeline for the season!

Have fun!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

Only 7 days left!!

2011-09-23T12:54:00.000-04:00

Hello teams, with only 7 days left before registration closes we are pulling in our final teams for the 2011 Food Factor season. We currently sit at 277 teams across Ontario which is a huge increase over last year's total of 229! Congratulations to all those who have joined this great adventure!

Tournament registration will open shortly after the Team Registration closes so keep an eye out for a post here and an email blast out regarding that process for you.

I hope your preparations so far have been going smoothly - remember to read that Coaches' Guide thoroughly and keep an eye on their suggested timeline.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Dave

1st Email Blast To Food Factor Coaches

2011-09-09T00:58:00.000-04:00

Hello Coaches,

I just wanted to take a moment to welcome you all to the 2011 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) season called "Food Factor"! I will try to keep emails to one per week (you'll also be getting one from FLL HQ each week) but that will mean they could be quite lengthy each time. :) There are 4 items of note in this email - please take a moment to read through.

Housekeeping
First of all, if you are receiving this email and you are NOT the coach of this team (for example you are the Office Administrator who purchased the registration for the school but will not be coaching the team), please send me your team number and the correct email address so that I may update my mail list. Otherwise, the coach of your team will not receive crucial information from FLL Ontario and from FIRST HQ.

Kick-Off event!!
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has sponsored FLL in Ontario this year in support of the food safety theme and together we will be hosting a kick off event for the season on Tuesday, September the 13th starting at 1:30 p.m. and finishing by 2:30 p.m. at Captain R Wilson PS in Oakville. While it is assumed most schools outside the Peel/Halton region will be unable to attend, we want you to know that you are all invited to the event. If you are in close proximity to the school and are able to attend, we strongly encourage you to bring your kids and enjoy a good time! The World Champion "Sentinels" will be there, showing some of their coolest moves from their now-famous robot from last season. In addition, someone from Maple Leaf Foods will be present to discuss food safety. Lastly, I'll be there to explain the game/project for this season. The Sentinels will finish it off with a discussion of some tips/tricks for this year's challenge. It's sure to be a good time so come on out!
Please RSVP.

Coach Training:
Looking for some information on how to tackle this whole thing called FLL? Look no further...OK, a little further. FLL HQ has its own Coach Training series which I would recommend you follow. If you miss an episode, you can always catch the recording at http://firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources - download it and listen to it on your iPod or computer.

In addition to these conference calls, we'll be hosting our own coach training in Ontario. It will take a few different forms (some face to face where available and some online). We will announce all training via email, my blog, and on our website as they become available. This email is to let you know about our first online training being held next Tuesday evening (the 13th) from 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. This session would be best for brand new coaches who have questions about how to get started. If interested, please join us by clicking on the link below to register. You'll have an opportunity to jump in and ask questions. I full schedule of training will be posted on the blog and the website soon.

Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/363437526

Money money money, MONEY!
We have money to support new teams in Ontario and if you haven't already taken advantage of that as a new team, please look at the documentation posted here. It doesn't apply to all teams but most new teams could benefit.

That's it for now! Have a great weekend!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

It's heeeeeerre....!!!

2011-09-02T22:39:00.001-04:00

Hello FLL fans, the moment we've been waiting for since the Smart Move season ended a few months ago is here! The release of the 2011 Food Factor game and project!!

Here's a direct link to the page you're looking for: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/challenge/2011foodfactor

Have fun and go get 'em!!

Dave

Updated Financial stimulus plan!

2011-09-01T21:16:00.001-04:00

No, not the government's financial stimulus...FIRST Robotics Canada's!!

As we did in the spring of 2011, there is money available once again for schools to start up new teams. The updated documents and procedure for new teams can be found here (or here if you have an older version of Word).

If you are a mentoring team, there is money for you as well.
If you are an FLL team interested in mentoring, your document is here.
If you are an FRC team interested in mentoring an FLL team you can find your document here.

Let's bump our numbers up and get even more kids involved in this fantastic program!

Dave

Getting hungry...

2011-06-13T21:17:00.000-04:00

Hello teams,

We currently have 106 hungry teams in Ontario ready to compete in the 2011 Food Factor season! Are you one of them? Haven't registered a team yet? What are you waiting for? Get signed up today!! It's going to be an amazing season once again! There are still spots available for our New Team Grant. Don't miss out on this great opportunity!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

1 month in...

2011-06-01T22:31:00.000-04:00

Hello teams, I hope you're having a great spring so far! Registration for FIRST LEGO League officially opened on May 2nd, so we're one month into the 2011 Food Factor season and Ontario teams are signing up fast to be a part of this exciting adventure called FLL.

There are still grant spots available for teams in Ontario so if you are thinking of approaching a local school to help them start up a team, there's still time to jump on board.

Get involved, be a part of something great!

Dave

WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!!

2011-04-30T00:27:00.000-04:00

Hello FLL family in Ontario!!

I'm in St. Louis right now for the FIRST World Championships and tonight they announced the FLL World Champion - drum roll please.....

Team 3663 The Sentinels from Oakville, ONTARIO, CANADA won the 1st Place Champion's Award!!!!! That's right!! OUR team WON!!!! OUR team WON!!!! Wahoooooo!!!!!!

This is an unprecedented level of accomplishment for an FLL team from Canada and it came from our beautiful province of Ontario!!! Congratulations to the team, the coaches, the parents, and the community of Oakville on such an incredible accomplishment! We are so very proud of each of you and all the work that went into accomplishing this feat!

Dave

FINAL process for Provincial Grant Application

2011-04-18T15:14:00.003-04:00

Hello coaches (past, present, and future)!

FLL's team registration system will be open for business on May 2nd for the 2011 Food Factor Season. FIRST Robotics Canada has received a grant from the provincial government to support the growth of FIRST programs within Ontario. We are pleased to announce that we will be partially funding 40 new teams in Ontario this year!

NOTE: If you get the grant of $750 you must still purchase a Field Setup Kit for $78 (unless you already have access to one for the 2011 Food Factor season) and build a table (instructions can be found here - while the table is not mandatory, it is strongly recommended). Lastly, you will want your team to attend a tournament in the fall (November or December) and while tournament costs vary, you should plan to spend $150 per team for tournament registration. In total, after the grant, you will need around $250 for your team. The $750 grant is to cover the majority of the costs of starting up a team, which include the robot and the team registration fee (different than the tournament registration fee). Please see this page for information on description and pricing associated with materials for an FLL team.

In previous years without the funding, teams usually participated in fundraising activities such as bake sales, car washes, and sponsorship from local businesses. Many local shops will gladly give $50-100 to a team if they'll add their company's name to the back of a team shirt. These can be great learning opportunities for students as well (in marketing, promotion, communication, business concepts, and partnerships).

If you are not selected as one of the 40 teams to receive the grant this spring you will be placed on a waiting list for the grant for the fall reimbursement. While I cannot guarantee you will receive funding, there is a good chance the money will eventually be reimbursed; however, you should be prepared to accept the possibility that it will not.

The process is explained fully in the documentation listed at the bottom of this post (which will also be posted on our website in the next few days); however, in a nutshell, you must:

FIRST register (by going to https://gofll.usfirst.org/) AND PAY for your team within FLL's Team Registration System (which opens on May 2nd, at noon)
THEN submit your form for the grant (see paperwork attached) to the following email address: FIRST@ylf-fyl.ca (the Yves Landry Foundation has graciously agreed to handle the administrative process of the grant) - do NOT email the application to fllontario@gmail.com.
NOTE: only fully completed grant applications which have official FLL Team #'s (given to you upon registering with FLL) and school boards listed will be accepted as received and placed in the queue for funding!!!
if your submission is complete you will receive an email confirming receipt of your application.
once your application has been approved you will be notified of the good news and mailed a cheque for $750 to reimburse you for the cost of the robot and registration to start up a new team OR a cheque for $250 to cover the cost of your registration if you are a veteran team applying for the mentoring grant.
If you send in your grant application but miss out on this opportunity because all of the funds are absorbed by other teams, you will be added to a waiting list and may be contacted if more funds become available.
In any case, your supplies (robot and Field Setup Kit [FSK]) will be delivered in late August and the game will be released on September 2nd! Become a follower of my blog to keep up to date on all things FLL in Ontario.

Please read through the documents THOROUGHLY so you understand the process completely. If you have questions after reading the documents, please feel free to email FIRST@ylf-fyl.ca.

New Team Application (latest version of Word)
New Team Application (old version of Word)

Mentor Application (latest version of Word)
Mentor Application (old version of Word)

Please note, if your school board has a centrally assigned Science or robotics individual, please contact them prior to registering to see if they have coordinated anything board-wide in which you might already be included.

Thank you once again for your interest in our FIRST programs and specifically in FLL.

Have a great season!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
www.firstroboticscanada.org

Presenting ASIMO at the OSC!

2011-04-08T01:19:00.001-04:00

Hello teams!

I hope you are enjoying the spring weather (sort of) and dreaming of warmer days when FLL registration opens again - at noon on May 2nd - a not-so-subtle plug... :) More news on the provincial grant opportunities in an email tomorrow...

For today, I have BIG news! The Ontario Science Centre and Honda have teamed up to make a presentation of the Honda robot ASIMO available to the kids of Ontario. In a nutshell, $6 gets each of your kids in the door of the OSC and in to see one of 3 presentations of ASIMO starting around 10 a.m on May 13th. You're welcome to come earlier and see the other OSC exhibits if you desire. You're welcome to stay the day afterward as well. They are offering this as a pre-release to the general public (which will go out to schools next week). If you are interested in taking advantage of this with your team, please contact Todd Fowler of Honda at todd_fowler@ch.honda.com and book your seats before they're all gone!

More details in this document. All questions should be directed to Todd please.

Thanks,

Dave

Congratulations to our Globe-Trotting teams of Ontario!

2011-04-08T01:18:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to announce that a few of our Ontario teams have been selected to represent Ontario at some of the global FLL competitions taking place in the next couple of months. We submitted an application to the World Festival (WF) for our 1st Place Core Values team, the TechnoSurgeons from Tomken Road PS which was accepted!! Congratulations TechnoSurgeons and good luck!

In addition to our two WF teams (the Sentinels [provincial champs] and the TechnoSurgeons) we also have two teams attending the US Open in California! These two teams were selected via a draw from our 1st Place Award winners from the provincial championships and will be heading down to the US Open in May. Congratulations goes out to the SCS Penguins from St. Clement's School and the Road Runners from Glen Ames PS!

Good luck to all four of our globe-trotting teams as they represent Ontario on the world stage!

Congratulations!!

2011-02-16T13:45:00.004-05:00

Congratulations goes out to The Sentinels, from Oakville, who won our provincial championship tournament and have qualified for World Festival in St. Louis at the end of April. In addition to this accomplishment, they were featured on the Canadian Diabetes Association website through an article about their research project on diabetes. You can see the article here and watch their video on YouTube here.

Great job Sentinels!!

Good luck in St. Louis!

Dave

Grant application

2011-02-09T13:23:00.001-05:00

Hello teams,

For those of you interested in the spring grant, please remember that you and/or the team you're mentoring must purchase a registration from FLL first and THEN apply for the grant. Interest in this program is growing so I would suggest that you register early in May (when registration opens) and apply immediately for the grant. More information on this process will be posted in the next few weeks so check back often!

Dave

Provincial Championships

2011-02-09T13:12:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone,

So it's been a while since I posted something new on the blog but I wanted to draw your attention to a couple things. First of all, the Provincial Championships were a huge success once again as we had 50 teams competing against each other with lots of hardware being handed out. A big thank you to UOIT for being our host and donating most of the university to our event! In addition, we had sponsorship from OPG once again this year and RIM came on board as a major sponsor of our program as well.

A big congratulations goes out to all the teams who competed on January 15th at UOIT. If you're interested in checking out the results of our event, you can see it on our new site. Other media coverage of the event includes:
http://www.newsdurhamregion.com/article/169634
http://www.uoit.ca/EN/main2/about/news_events/news_archives/news_releases/2011/20110118_1.html
http://www.diabetes.ca/get-involved/news/kids-share-their-winning-idea-for-diabetes-management/
http://planetyou.discoverychannel.ca/mediadetail/3565301

And if you're interested in seeing some photos of the event, please check out Ian Goodall's photos from the day at: http://ian.photoshelter.com/gallery/G0000HBX2o1WW750

Take care everyone!

Dave

15 minutes of fame!!

2010-12-01T00:40:00.001-05:00

OK, so not 15 minutes...but 5 minutes is good too!

Planning is in full swing for the Provincial Championships and this year we would like to try something new. Because the Pilot that Ontario is in (don't forget to provide feedback on the pilot!) has placed more of an even emphasis on Teamwork, Project, and Design we would like that reflected in what people see as well. Much of what is great in FLL is done behind doors in the judges rooms.

Do you have a great presentation that you would love others to see? Wouldn't it be great if it could be show-cased at the Provincial Championships?! Your team didn't qualify for the Provincial Championships? No problem - anyone can send their presentation to us! Check out the details below.

Details:
What: We'd like to show your presentation in video. There are no strings attached and nothing implied, just a chance to show your work to the crowd.
When: submission deadline is Friday, December 17th so DON'T DELAY!
Where: The selected presentations will be shown at the Provincial Championships at UOIT on January 15th!
Why: Because it's FUN! Also, it will be a chance for people to see some entertaining presentations that they would normally never see!
How: send us your presentation in a common video format (mov, wmv, etc.) on CD/DVD or via the internet (Youtube or some other creative way of getting it to us) and we will choose a few to show at the Provincial Champioships. You can email the video to fllontario@gmail.com or you can snailmail it to us at:

FIRST Robotics Canada

P.O. Box 518, Pickering Main

Pickering, Ontario

L1V 2R7

Have fun!

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
http://fllontario.org/

Big Changes in FLL this year!

2010-11-11T14:24:00.002-05:00

Hello teams,

As we approach our FLL tournament season I just wanted to touch base regarding a few major changes that FLL is going through this year. They are:
1) Pilot change in judging values (the BIG one)

Please remember that Ontario is one of a few regions that has been chosen to be a part of the FLL Judging Pilot. We are very excited about this opportunity and welcome any feedback (good and bad) you may have regarding anything to do with the pilot. For a recap of these major changes please see my email to the coach of your team for more info or email me directly. We're not allowed to post them on a website.

2) Robot strategy change (from previous years)

One major change from previous years that we thought we should point out is that there is no more "stray objects" rule. Please note Rule 18, 22, and 23 in the attached "Rules" document. Some points to consider as a result:

If your robot leaves base with an object and loses control of it, you don't get it back and you can't ask the ref to move it for you. IT STAYS WHERE IT IS.
If you pick up your robot outside of base while it is still in control of the object you get a touch penalty for the robot touch but you would get the robot and object back in base.
If you are retrieving an object to base and lose control of the object, it stays where it is.
If you pick up your robot while it is retrieving an object you get a touch penalty AND lose the object (ref removes it from the table).

Questions regarding Judging can go to either me or Calum Tsang (our Provincial Judge Advisor) at tsangc@mie.utoronto.ca.

Questions regarding Reffing can go to either me or Ian Mackenzie (our Provincial Head Ref) at ian.e.mackenzie@gmail.com.

Also, I wanted to let you all know that there will be another practice tournament being held in Kingston - these practice tournaments are a great opportunity for your team. I strongly recommend getting to one if you are able. If you are interested in the Kingston tournament, there is more information at http://kbotics.ca/fll/.

Thanks,

Dave

We need your input!

2010-11-08T10:27:00.000-05:00

Hello coaches and kids!

Once again, I'm greeting you with great news from FLL-land in Ontario!

Part of the mandate for our Provincial funding is that we have some data to present to the province when the season is over. To fulfill that requirement, and to also help drive our program to become even better than it is, we have created two surveys. I am asking that you take a moment yourself AND with your team to go over the two surveys. As I said, it will help our program moving forward AND at each tournament we will have a PRIZE DRAW from all the names of the people who complete the survey. There is a coach survey for you to fill out and a participant survey for EACH of the children on your team to fill out.

This is how it will work:

BEFORE you attend your tournament, you and the children must complete the surveys (actually submissions MUST be received at least 24 HOURS BEFORE your tournament date)
I will collect the data and send a list of names of those who completed the survey to the tournament director at your tournament (this will happen the day before your tournament so make sure you complete the survey EARLY!). Please note that only the names will be sent on to the tournament director - no other data will be seen by the tournament directors so your answers will NOT influence the judges at all :)
At some point on your tournament day, your tournament director will perform the draws. One draw will be for the coaches who completed their survey and one draw will be for the participants who completed the survey - I'm going to keep the prizes a surprise, but believe me, you DEFINITELY want to win these prizes!! Hint hint, they could REALLY help you next season!!

NB: the participant survey asks for the name of the children and the team's name. We've asked that they enter ONLY their first names in the name field. This information is being collected solely for the purpose of the draw and will not be used to contact the children (there is no contact information requested on the survey). If you and the children would feel more comfortable putting in nicknames that would be fine as well (as long as you know which nicknames belong to which children in case they win).

The links to the two surveys are provided below - please complete them as soon as you can.

Coach Survey
Participant Survey

Thank you for your attention to these two surveys and GOOD LUCK in the draw!!

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
http://fllontario.org/

AMAZING Financial Incentive Program!!

2010-11-05T14:41:00.006-04:00

IMPORTANT: An updated process has recently been posted. Please read the most up to date post here.

Hello FLL teams in Ontario!

I have VERY exciting news for you today! In the spring the provincial government provided FIRST Robotics Canada with a $3 million grant to be used over the next 5 years to grow FIRST programs in Ontario.

Do you like FLL? Do you think it benefits your kids? Wouldn't it be great if we could spread the word about FLL and get even MORE kids involved?! I just heard today from a coach who had been working in a very under-privileged school in Toronto. After moving through the FLL program roughly 30% of his graduating class went on to advanced Science and Tech programs at specialized Sci/Tech high schools which are very prestigious! 30% is an incredible success story for those kids in that area. And it was largely because of his initiative to bring FLL to his school! You've all likely got an exciting story with your own team; however, wouldn't it be awesome to leave behind a legacy of positive change in even MORE kids' lives? Now you can be part of that!

OK, the details of the growth incentive program are in the two attached documents (one for starting a new team and one for experienced teams like yourselves to mentor rookie teams). Please read them over carefully. In a nutshell however, FIRST Robotics Canada will be providing a grant for new teams to start up next year (NXT and registration paid for) and a separate grant for veteran teams (registration paid for) to mentor rookie teams.

I would strongly suggest that if you have a school/teacher/organization in mind that you invite the interested stakeholders out to the tournament you are attending. Get them to see the event in action and you'll have them hooked for sure! Then they can register their team at the beginning of May, you can apply for the mentoring grant and everyone benefits! If you can't get them to your local qualifier then approach them before the Provincial Championships in January and ask them to join you there.

Once we reach our target # funding will cease - make sure to read everything thoroughly. Please note that neither the Mentoring Team application nor the New Team application will be accepted until after FLL registration begins in May as we need your FLL team number if you are a new team. If you are a mentoring team you will need to include your “new teams’” FLL team number. Only complete forms will be considered. Applications must be emailed in to me at this address and my inbox will provide the time stamp of acceptance.

There is money to be had people!!

New Team Grant
Mentoring Team Grant

Dave

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
http://fllontario.org/

Sponsorship Opportunity from Apprenticesearch.com

2010-11-03T09:01:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone, earlier in the season we announced the sponsorship opportunity from Apprenticesearch.com for teams in Ontario. Many teams applied and the results are IN!

To see the results, click here!

Congrats to everyone who applied and THANK YOU to Apprenticesearch.com!

Dave

3 Great Opportunities!!

2010-10-13T09:02:00.001-04:00

Hello coaches,

I just wanted to make you all aware of three great upcoming events in Ontario that coaches or teams can attend in order to learn something or help promote FLL. I have created a little video here for you to see how to register for an event in the FLL registration system in case you want to register for any or all of the following opportunities. Please help us spread the word about FLL and get more children involved in this amazing adventure!

Event #1:
St. Mildred's Robotics Symposium in Oakville on October 16th (yes, THIS Saturday!). Please either go into the events tab in the FLL registration system and search for St. Mildred's, or click here and register for your workshop this way. This event is a coaches' training workshop for coaches only.

Event #2:
Toronto Hobby Show at the Toronto International Centre from November 5-7th. For this event we are looking for teams who are interested in showcasing their stuff as people walk through the exhibits. We're looking for enthusiastic teams who are eager to spread the word about FLL. This could be a great opportunity for you to do outreach, practise your project presentation, and/or just get together to work on your robot missions. You may attend one day, two days, or all three days if you so desire.

There are 3 days to this event and they are all listed as separate events in FLL's system (please use the FLL registration system to apply for this event. If you would like to apply to attend more than just one day, please go back into the system and register for any additional days you wish to attend. There will be snacks provided on Friday, and a pizza lunch on Saturday and Sunday. The times for each day are as follows: Friday: 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. This event is for coaches and children.

Event #3:
Robots Rule at the Ontario Science Centre on November 20th and/or 21st. Teams will load in at 9 a.m. The event runs from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 1 parking space is free per team. 2 mentors can attend per team and will receive free admission to the OSC (as will the children on the team). Coaches can spell off each other to take a few children through the OSC to see the exhibits. As with the Hobby Show opportunity you can choose to attend just one day or both days. This event is for coaches and children.

Thank you for all you do! Your dedication is admirable and very much appreciated!

Sponsorship Opportunity from Apprenticesearch.com

2010-10-12T11:15:00.001-04:00

Hello Coaches!

I have very exciting news to share with you today! Apprenticesearch.com is an organization in Ontario that matches employers with apprentices and they have chosen to provide 5 teams in Ontario with a $200 sponsorship grant. YOU could be one of those teams! But don't delay - you only have until October 29th to submit your application!

All the information you need is in this document.

Good luck!

Dave

You WON'T want to miss THIS!

2010-09-27T14:14:00.006-04:00

Hello coaches!

I hope your season is progressing nicely so far.

I just wanted to let you all know about an AMAZING event that is going to be taking place at St. Mildred's Lightbourn school in Oakville. Their FRC (the highschool version of what we do) team wanted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of FIRST in Ontario with a robotics symposium. The general details are below. Please take a moment to register for a workshop so we know how many people to expect.

Robotics Symposium at St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School (Oakville, ON)

What?
The event will gather together FRC teams as well as FLL mentors and coaches for a day of robotics training and development.

Three sessions are planned to run concurrently for FLL coaches and mentors: "Where's the Value in Core Values?" OR "How do I program this thing?! (beginner building/programming)," OR "I'm ready for the NXT level" (advanced building/programming). These sessions will be run by VERY experienced and successful coaches and you WON'T want to miss out! Please click here to sign up for ONE of these workshops.

When?
October 16, 2010 - The entire event runs from 9 am - 6 pm, but the FLL training will take place from 10 am - 12 noon (more details in the attachment!)

What else?
In the afternoon, there will be an event called The Inside Ride, to raise money for childhood cancer research. After this, there will be a social to network with other FLL mentors and FRC teams.

Who?
We invite all FLL coaches and mentors to come for as much of the day as possible! For mentors who belong to FRC teams attending the event, the FLL training sessions will take place during the FRC breakout sessions, so that you can attend the event along with your FRC team.

For more information about the event in general, please contact Lisa Hines (lhines@smls.on.ca or 905-845-2386 ex. 704) at St. Mildred's. For information regarding the specific training, please contact Dave Ellis (FLL Ontario Partner. Information about the Inside Ride is available at http://smlsrobotics.theinsideride.com

Dave Ellis
FLL Operational Partner - Ontario, Canada
http://fllontario.org/

Coach Training!

2010-09-16T23:31:00.002-04:00

Hello coaches, over the next few weeks there will be a few coach training sessions available for you to attend. I will email these opportunities out to you, post them on my blog and have them posted to our website (www.fllontario.org). If there are no coach training sessions in your area and you are interested in training coaches yourself, please contact me so we can set something up!

Our first Coach Training session of the season is being held out in Oakville and the information is below.

WHEN?

Thursdays nights September 30^th and October 7^th 7-9:30pm

FOR?

FLL Coaches training workshop – John Catricala will cover robot design, build and nxt programming. If you should require some assistance in a certain area please correspond with him so he can be prepared to offer his assistance.

john@ebots.ca

WHERE?

“E-Bots” 220 Wyecroft Rd. unit 101 Oakville 905-337-1299 www.ebots.ca (map with directions)

please rsvp to pam@ebots.ca as space will be limited to max. of 8

NOTE:

(you will NOT need to bring your own laptops or robots to take part unless you require them as we have them)

It's finally here!!

2010-09-03T17:09:00.002-04:00

Hello teams,

The new Body Forward game and project have finally been released! You can view the information about the game here if you haven't already! It's a very exciting season and one in which everyBODY can feel connected! :)

I am very relieved now because I don't have to worry about spilling the beans anymore! :)

If you have any questions, feel free to ask as always! I hope to see you on the field some day!

Dave

Only a few more days till kick-off!

2010-08-29T19:37:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone,

We're getting very excited about the upcoming kick-off of the Body Forward season. Hopefully you have registered your team at this point and possibly already have your field setup kit in your possession!

Good luck to everyone and have FUN!

Dave

Province of Ontario supports FIRST programs!

2010-04-10T20:08:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone,

I hope your off-season planning is going well.

We have some great news to share with everyone! The Government of Ontario has agreed to provide FIRST Robotics Canada with a $3 million grant over the next 5 years to grow FIRST robotics programs throughout the province of Ontario.

This is great news for all of us who believe in the FIRST program and what it stands for and ushers in the beginning of a great era in Ontario's technology movement.

Here's the link to the Province's announcement.

Dave

Product Pricing for next year

2010-02-12T21:56:00.001-05:00

Hello teams,

I just heard today that product pricing for next year's season is now out. You can start planning your budget by looking at this site: http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll/content.aspx?id=16605

Dave

Ontario has a berth!

2009-11-23T19:50:00.002-05:00

Well teams, we're now into the tournament season and we have just completed our two "northern" tournaments in Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury. Quite a few are taking place this coming weekend as well.

In case you missed today's announcement from FIRST, Ontario has a spot in the World Championships this year and next year's theme was also announced today! The full story is below in the original email from FIRST HQ!

Good luck to everyone competing this coming weekend!

Dave

Greetings Coaches:

Nervous about an upcoming Tournament or local event? Don't be! These events are celebrations of your accomplishments. Even if your Team can only attempt one Mission on the Robot Game or didn't have time to fully rehearse their Project Presentation... GO! HAVE FUN! And remember the FLL Core Value: "What we discover is more important than what we win."

World Festival

We are pleased to announce the regions which have been selected by lottery to invite their Champion's Award winning Team to the World Festival for the Smart Move Challenge - in Atlanta, Georgia from April 14–17, 2010. You can view the selected regions at http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll/content.aspx?id=766. Each Operational Partner has the opportunity to nominate one team from their region to attend World Festival whom they believe has embodied FLL Core Values throughout the season. Your Partner will share more information if they are planning to submit a nomination.

2010 Challenge

Lastly, we are excited to have released the name and logo for the 2010 "Biomedical Engineering" Challenge... Body Forward! Visit http://usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/fll/default.aspx?id=970 under FLL Program Updates to read more.

With High 5's and Admiration,

FIRST LEGO League Headquarters

Ontario Science Centre - Great opportunity for your team!

2009-11-09T10:19:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, 21 November and Sunday, 22 November, FIRST Robotics Canada is excited to partner with the Ontario Science Centre for their "Robots Rule Week-end"!

We will be showcasing FIRST Lego League and also the High School robots from the FIRST Robotics Competition and we will also be supporting the Vex robots.

We are looking for some FLL teams that would like to come and demonstrate their robots and showcase their team.

We will be running matches to show what these mighty little robots can do. What a great way to practice for your upcoming tournament!!

Each team will be given a "pit table" so you can continue to work on your robots while at the event.

Once we know which teams would like to participate, we will set up a schedule so that all teams will be able to participate in "practice matches".

We will have referees and will score the runs but only as a learning experience for your team, this is NOT a competition.

If your teams is interested in attending, please send an e-mail to Rhona Breadner (rhona.breadner@gmail.com) stating which date(s) your team would like to attend.

Teams will receive free parking and free admission to the Science Centre for the day (there will be time for your team to enjoy the Science Centre, if you choose). Teams can either bring their lunch or can buy lunch in the food court. We will provide the playing tables and field set-up pieces. The agenda is still being worked out but the day will run from approx. 10am until 4pm .

If you have any further questions, please let me know.

Thanks and we look forward to a great event!

Rhona Breadner

FIRST Robotics Canada

http://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/calendar/default.asp?eventid=546&ddmmyyyy=01112009

Rembmer to Review the Q&A page

2009-10-30T19:46:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder to teams to check out the Q&A page from time to time...and especially before the tournament you attend to make sure you're up-to-date. These Q&A will be the official rulings by the refs at your tournament and it would be awful for your kids if they were basing their decisions on old information.

Have fun!

Dave

2009-10-27T16:55:00.002-04:00

Another practice tournament is available, this time for teams in the Oakville area. The information is below.

The info for the tournament is:

Oakville Trafalgar High School
1460 Devon Road, Oakville, ON
Date: November 14, 2009
Time: 9am-noon
Fee: $50.00
Teams are required to bring: an Extension Cord and Power Bar
Contact: Evelyn Wainewright at evelyn.robotics@hotmail.com

Practice Tournament at Queen's

2009-10-21T23:38:00.002-04:00

Hello Coaches,

I hope your season is progressing along nicely. I'm sure your kids are enjoying all the building, programming, and researching that's been going on the last few weeks.

We have another Practice tournament opportunity available to you. I would highly recommend getting to a practice tournament before your qualifier because it really helps to prepare your kids even if they're not "ready" to compete. If interested in this great opportunity, please download the flyer here for more information.

Dave

New workshop in Toronto

2009-10-10T11:26:00.003-04:00

Hello coaches,

Crescent School in Toronto will be holding a coaches' training workshop. Details are below. Once again, thanks to all of our trainers who have been hosting workshops for coaches in Ontario!

Date: October 23rd
Time: 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Location: Crescent School

2365 Bayview Avenue

Toronto, ON. M2L 1A2
Topics Covered:

Team building
Introduction to basic building
Introduction to NXT-G
Preparing for presentations

No need to bring anything except items for note taking.

Contact: Jeff Adams

Phone: (416) 449-2556 ext. 307

jadams@crescentschool.org

Vote for FIRST!

2009-10-06T20:42:00.001-04:00

Hello coaches,

Since you participate in FLL in some way, you obviously value the program's goals. Help FIRST achieve their goals by voting below. Please see the message below and take the one minute required to enter your vote.

Google’s Project 10 to the 100^th – Vote for FIRST! We have 48 hours to get 100,000 votes in favor of Education and FIRST to be a winner of the Google $2M grant contest. Please go here to place your vote: http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/content.aspx?id=15753

Tournament Registration is NOW OPEN!

2009-10-01T11:08:00.001-04:00

Hello Coaches and Teams,

Registration for Ontario's Qualifying Tournament system is now open and will close on October 15th. Please check out www.fllontario.org for tournament locations and contact information. Please contact the tournament directors directly in order to register your team.

Tournament Directors have been asked to give preference to teams in the area surrounding them so that those teams can be best served. If you are not able to get into your your first tournament of choice, please look to the others that are available and choose from one of them. We are very fortunate in Ontario to have 11 high quality qualifying tournaments.

A big thanks goes out to our Tournament Directors as they volunteer their time to prepare a great event for your teams.

Have fun!

Sincerely,

Dave

2009-09-25T08:45:00.003-04:00

Hello coaches. Well, we're three weeks into the Smart Move season. I hope your team is enjoying their experiences so far! I'm happy to announce we have a third training session available for coaches near the Niagara area. Please see the details below. Good luck!

Niagara Region Training

When: Wednesday, September 30th 6-8PM

Where: Niagara College, Ontario Room - HT001

Hosted By: Team H20

Topics Covered: Team building, intro to basic building, an intro to NXT-G and/or Robolab, preparing for presentations, and what to expect at your first tournament. No need to bring anything except items for note taking.

Contact Information: Rob Nan email: coachdaddyr@yahoo.ca

RSVP date: September 28th

2nd Training Workshop

2009-09-19T10:31:00.001-04:00

Hello teams,

As mentioned before, our coach trainers are hard at work booking dates and facilities to host workshops for you. Another one is listed below. Please contact the trainer directly if you have any questions regarding this workshop.

When: Saturday, Oct. 10th 11-2 PM
Where: 366 Vogel Pl, Waterloo, Ontario
Topics Covered:

- Team building,

- Introduction to basic building

- Introduction to NXT-G,

- Preparing for presentations.

No need to bring anything except items for note taking.

Contact Information: at wabdelsa@gmail.com 519-725-

4032

Training workshop

2009-09-17T11:37:00.002-04:00

Hello teams, I hope you're enjoying the first few weeks of the "Smart Move" season. We have a new initiative in Ontario this year. Some experienced coaches have agreed to hold training workshops for other coaches in their area. Ontario is a geographically large region to support with coach training but hopefully this will ease your driving time if you are interested in attending.

Our trainers are working out details for site locations and dates and once those have been passed along to me we will post them here on the blog, on our website, and email blast the coaches.

Our first available workshop is offered by the W.A.F.F.L.E.S in Kingston. Please see more information about their workshop below.

Good luck and have fun!

Dave

When: Saturday, September 26th 1-4 PM
Where: Kingston, Ontario
Hosted By: The W.A.F.F.L.E.S.
Topics Covered: Team building, intro to basic building, an intro to
NXT-G and/or Robolab, preparing for presentations, and what to expect
at your first tournament. In addition we`ll discuss the various
approaches to coaching and incorporate time for discussion and
questions. No need to bring anything except items for note taking.
Contact Information: Christine Bibic at coachc@teamwaffles.com
RSVP date: September 14th
*Anyone unable to attend is invited to contact us as we are willing to
mentor via email.

Practice Tournament

2009-09-15T16:16:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone,

Stewart Hines is a coach in the Peel/Halton area and has offered to host a practice tournament for anyone interested - only 12 spots available though! The information is posted below. This is a great opportunity for newer teams to get a chance to compete before your real tournament and I would highly recommend it if you can! If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact the event coordinator (Stewart Hines) at Stewart.Hynes@peelsb.com 905-277-0321.

Location: Tomken Road Middle School - South building 3160 Tomken Road.

Date: November 7, 2009

Time: 9:00 - 2:00

Capacity: 12 teams

Fee: $75.00

Lunch Provided: Pizza (if Allergies, bring own Food)

Bring: Extension cord and Power Bar

Contact: Stewart Hynes Stewart.Hynes@peelsb.com 905-277-0321

A great resource!

2009-09-10T20:22:00.004-04:00

Here's a great document created by Henry Sikkema (a coach in Ontario) who took the time to compile all the missions into one handy document for coaches and kids. It would be great printed up and posted on the wall by your practice table so the kids could reference their mission requirements and point values. Henry's willingness to share a great resource he created is a perfect example of the FLL Core Values we're trying to instill in our kids. Thanks Henry!

2009-09-09T10:07:00.002-04:00

Hello teams!

I hope you're enjoying building your field setups and planning how you're going to accomplish some of the missions! It looks like a very "moving" experience this year! :)

FIRST has updated their website so I thought I would post this video tour of the site for anyone who is new.

We have also updated the FLL Ontario website and this is the video tour of that one.

Hope that is helpful.

Dave

Kick-off!!

2009-09-02T20:45:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone, I'm really excited about tomorrow's kick-off. If you are fortunate enough to already have your team assembled and ready to go you will have the advantage of starting tomorrow afternoon if you wish! Remember that the information should be posted on the FLL website around noon. If you keep refreshing your browser you should eventually see the new information. Keep in mind that sometimes with a big launch like this there are technical difficulties so if the challenge and project are not launched exactly at noon, keep checking back.

I wanted to highlight the fact that FIRST in New Hampshire hosts regular (once a month) Coach training calls to help you learn more. You can call in to these conference calls and participate(information about calling in for the next one is listed below) or you can download them after they're posted here and listen to them on your computer.

In addition, Ontario is starting a new initiative this year to help with coach training across our vast province. If you are interested in being a coach trainer for your area this year or next, please email me and let me know at fllontario@gmail.com. We'll make sure you get the proper training to be successful and you'll probably learn some helpful tips at the same time!

Enjoy kick-off tomorrow!

Dave

Directions for the upcoming call are:
FLL COACH CALL - TEAM MENTOR ORIENTATION
DATE/TIME: Wednesday, 9/9 @ 7pm (ET)
CALL-IN NUMBER: 1-800-503-2899
ACCESS CODE: 6663906

Listen in on previous Coach Training Calls from FIRST HQ in New Hampshire.

2-and-a-half weeks to go!

2009-08-19T21:07:00.003-04:00

Hello teams! There are only two-and-a-half weeks before kick-off! If you registered your team early enough you should be receiving your field setup kits in the next week or two. Many preparations are already taking place to ensure you have a fantastic experience at your qualifying event. We all hope you have a great season learning about the transportation industry and how we can improve it.

As always, good luck and have fun!

Sincerely,

Dave and the FLL Ontario team

Registration's Open!!

2009-05-06T23:02:00.000-04:00

Hello girls, boys, and coaches! Welcome back to another exciting season of FLL robotics mania! This season is already off to a great start with the "Smart Move" registration open for business and missions to be released in September. Sign up your team now to make sure you get your field setup and mat as soon as they're ready to ship (in August). For the first time ever, the coaches' manual for this season has a sneak preview of the field setup, right on the cover, so you can start guessing what the missions will be ahead of time! We can't wait to see the incredible things you'll do this year. Hope to see you at a tournament! As always, good luck to everyone, and HAVE FUN!!!

Dave Ellis

Sign up for our blog!!

2009-05-05T23:05:00.002-04:00

Hello teams and coaches, welcome to FLLOntario's blog site. This site will be used to communicate with coaches and teams throughout the season. To ensure you get all the information you need in the most efficient way possible, subscribe to this blog and you will get an email update anytime new information is posted here.

It's absolutely the best way to stay up-to-date on important issues that will affect your season so don't delay - subscribe today! Just click on the Posts link below to get started.