I think all of us, coaches, judges, refs, coordinators of events, are probably overburdened and rushed.  The only reason they do these events is to benefit our kids.
Everyone learns from an experience like this. For the record, all of my kids and I read over the rules and missed this one. I think it is probably because we assumed we knew what they meant. We learned to read the directions more carefully, not to assume understanding, and to make last minute adjustments.
As someone I know and respect always says, "This is FLL not NFL." Let's try to just be patient and thankful for the many people (most as volunteers) who work so hard to arrange, set up, judge, and whatever else I can't think of right now.  Let's go to tournament ready to learn and have fun, knowing that our kids are going to benefit no matter what their scores are in the end.


Betsy T Wilco

Gifted Resource Teacher

Prince William County Schools

703.754.9061

________________________________
From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Lewczyk, Sonja <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, November 7, 2019 1:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [VADCFLL-L] Robot returning to Home/Launch Area


As a rookie judge of a brand new team I couldn’t agree more with Heather…. I do work full time and am the only full time coach juggling two teams.  Thank you for all of you that have helped me navigate FIRST.



From: First Lego League in Virginia and DC [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Heather Ramsey
Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2019 1:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [VADCFLL-L] Robot returning to Home/Launch Area



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Perhaps we can get back to this forum being one of helpfulness. Remember some schools did not get there kits until the end of September and many are being run by volunteers that work full time and are having to spend their own money to give their kids the same experience as everyone else. Those that are struggling do not need to be reminded of their faults be thankful that the view from your high horse is so good.





Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 7, 2019, at 13:21, Amy Nichols <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

I usually don't respond to these posts, but a few things have struck me. This may not be true, but it appears that a lot of the questions and angst in these emails could simply be solved by reading the rules. Or reading them again. Every team is reading the same set of rules...no one has an easier set of rules than other teams. But the team's that do well are the ones that have taken the time to understand the challenge before - like back in August/Sept - they begin working on their missions. Or revisit the rules frequently of the course of the season as new things come up.

If the new rules have been a challenge for the kids, then great...FIRST has been successful. That's the goal.



Amy



On Thursday, November 7, 2019, 11:40:02 AM EST, Shanti <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:





I'm a Rookie coach and I have been following all the threads since September and attended some sessions that Kaitlyn and her team have been posting here. The rules that are laid out are very good. Compared to last years rules (I wasn't aware of them until this year) these rules will keep everyone engaged and involved. We figured there are more ways to get points rather than only solving the missions like every previous year.

Kids understood it right away after coaches explained these rules and kids also explained some rules to the coaches.

I'm assuming there will not be a big point difference between the leader of the tournament and the other teams. The various teams total points will be close to each other. Correct me if I'm wrong.





==============================

Kaitlin Ilnitzki and I can carry feedback to FLL.



I don't really understand what the concern is yet.



Using Home as a target area to return to is larger than the Launch Area, and it also has more walls to help stop the Robot, so it seems to me like it would be easier to return to Home than to the Launch Area, although it is a little bit farther, so it would take a little bit more time.



We've tried to be pretty emphatic about this change in trainings and on this discussion list.  Do people have recommendations for additional techniques we could use in the future to help your teams understand what they are reading?



Steve Scherr

Virginia-DC FLL Referee Advisor



On Thu, Nov 7, 2019 at 10:17 AM aprille.j.ericsson <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:

I agree with Heather's and others comments. I am at a loss for the reasoning behind the changes. There will be many teams that will not be aware of the difference between home and launch.



I find it disheartening that we will penalize teams if they bring the robot back to it original launch location. This would be typical to Industry. I note FLL has already made it a smaller base. So it is already more challenging.



How do we provide feedback to FLL?



Best regards

Dr. Aprille Ericsson

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