You WON'T want to miss THIS!

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!

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!!

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!

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!

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

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!

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