Top questions this week – as of 9/19

This is 2nd in series of common questions that are coming in….   Read 9/9 version.

1. What deadlines exist?
   • There are 3 relevant deadlines:
     1. Team Registration with FIRST – this is done via TIMS – typically closes mid to late September.
        • Why does this vary?  From TIMS site: Registration will close when all slots are filled. This usually occurs …  mid-September….  [and in NorCal, we close to new teams usually around mid-September  and no later than 9/30. Don’t assume team registration will stay open!]
     2. NorCal’s Tournament Pre-Req Registration – Deadline is 9/30
        • What is this deadline?   This deadline shows intent to compete at a Qualifier Tournament (QT).  Each year in NorCal, we have a variable number of teams that for whatever reason decide not to compete at a tournament.   This can vary between 5% to 15% of the fully registered FLL teams.  With nearly 600 teams, this could mean up to 8 qualifiers that may or may not need to exist.  So we need to know as early as we can to rightsize the number of tournaments….
     3. NorCal’s Tournament Registration – usually opens 2nd week of October and stays open at least a week – typically mid to late October
        • Why does this vary?  Because we try to keep registration open to make sure that all teams that want to compete will have the opportunity.
2. Our team name changed, how do I let you know  (or relatedly, our team name shows up wrong in the team status)?
   • Team name changes have to be done on the FIRST TIMS site by a coach AND then wait for us to manually download the TIMS db again.
   • There will be a deadline when we stop updating from the FIRST TIMS site… generally this is around the end of October.  Team name changes after that need to be “negotiated” with your Qualifier Tournament organizer and depends on when they do their printing, etc.
3. How do I understand my team’s status?
   • This one assumes first that you know where to look to get your team’s status – norcalfll.org article titled “2015 NorCal FLL Team List and Status“.   Scroll down to find your team and click on the Status link.
     • NOTE: Several mobile users have reported that they are not able to see the entire table  (looks like a timeout) – so I also add a note on what is the last team number so that you can check to make sure before telling me that you don’t see your team number…
   • Here is a post that I did earlier that has some information – mostly focused on what typically goes “wrong”.
   • The status for each team has 12 lines.
     • The first 5 lines are specific to FIRST
     • “TIMS … ” The first 4 lines that start with TIMS come directly from the FIRST TIMS db – which we manually download roughly once a week.  If something is wrong here,  the coach will have to fix it on the FIRST TIMS site AND then wait for us to do the manual download again.  The download date is posted at the top of the table.
     • “FIRST Eligible”  The 5th line means that the team has 2 coaches listed, screened and the team has paid and completed all of the Team required items according to FIRST.  We are required to only accept teams that show FIRST Eligible as yes.  Again, this status only changes after we do the manual download of the TIMS db.
     • There are a couple of blank lines to separate out what is from FIRST to what is local to NorCal.
     • The remaining 7 lines are specific to NorCal.
     • “NorCal District”:  This is a “dumb” lookup from NorCal’s city database.  It is based on this article titled, “2015 NorCal FLL District Boundaries” . If you show “UNKNOWN” – read the post that I linked earlier that describes what typically goes wrong….
     • “NorCal Team Details Received”:   This year, this is exactly just filling out the JotForm.   If you entered your team number correctly in the jotform,  it should automatically update this to a “yes”.   If you are sure  (and both of us will get an emailed copy of your jotform entry so you can verify what you entered) that you entered the number correctly but it stills show no,  just send an email to teaminfo at playingatlearning dot org and I will investigate.
     • “NorCal Additional Consent Forms Received” :   This appears to be somewhat of a source of confusion.  Once you complete your jotform, this turns to “unknown”  until I do the manual verification step to confirm.   The vast majority of teams will not need to send in any additional consent forms as you will be able to do this all electronically through the FIRST TIMS site by creating a team roster with all of your team members and coaches and mentors listed and electronic consent given  [See example of a completed team roster].   There are 3 situations where you have to send a scanned or mailed paper copy of a consent form –  basically this is whenever you have to handwrite a name on the roster – see additional explanation here.
       1. Team member is below 9 years old AND the system will not allow them to join a FLL team.   [There is a good reason for this, but FIRST will allow it, so this is the work around]
       2. Youth mentor (this is anyone working with the team under 18 years old that is not a team member)
       3. Any team member or coach or mentor that is not able to complete the online electronic consent.
     •  “NorCal Payment Received”:   If you pay via paypal,  this should get automatically updated to be “yes”.  If you are sure that you paid and entered the right team number,  just send an email to teaminfo at playingatlearning dot org and I will investigate to figure this out.   If you can’t pay via paypal,  there are instructions here and I will have to manually update your payment status once I receive payment (ugh).
     • “NorCal Eligible to Register for QT”:   Once  FIRST Eligible is yes,  AND you have paid AND you have completed the jotform,  the status will show “Manual Review In Progress”.   This means that I have to do a manual verification that the jotform was completed correctly and determine if any additional consent forms are needed.   I try to do this manual step at least once a week.    Once I get done,  either everything is correct and I can mark this as a “yes” OR  I change this to “Fix Needed” and add an explanation below on what needs to get fixed.
     • “NorCal Qualifying Tournament”:  Once registration actually opens and the team registers for a tournament (and assuming the Eligible to Register is yes),  the tournament that the team signed up for and was accepted into is listed here.
     • “Explanation/Notes”:  This gets updated once I do the manual verification of your entry.  I try to add a note what is wrong or missing and have started adding a date as well.  If everything is correct, I  try to mark this as well.
4. We have more than 2 teams from our school and must all attend the same tournament – how do we do that?
   • We would STRONGLY recommend hosting a tournament – that way your entire community can be involved and your teams can attend their home tournament.   We may have to start requiring this if we don’t get more organizers stepping up.
   • Otherwise, as long as all teams complete their pre-reqs ahead of the 9/30 deadline,  we try to accomodate as long as this is a real requirement.  Send an email to teaminfo at playingatlearning dot org, letting me know the situation .  Note that we generally are looking that the tournament must be treated as a school field trip and would need verification from school administrator of this requirement.