Talking about Storage is always fun.....  We spent hours on it last spring. :-|

Can we count on there being a "stand" (is that a table?) at our regional tournament? 

-- VA-DC FLL strongly recommends to all Tournament Directors that they provide a "stand" at all tournament tables.  At some tournaments that I go to, they are TV trays.  At some, they are chairs (like the VA-DC Championship).  In some cases, a tournament might have small tables available.  The Mountaineer Invitational this summer had 6-foot tables.  I am pretty good about ensuring that something is made available during tournament setup at tournaments where I am Head Referee, but it's tournament dependent.

-- We also strongly recommend to all Tournament Directors that they communicate with coaches before the tournament to advise of any restrictions in access to tables, or space restrictions for teams that want to bring their own stands.

-- I'll also permit a team member to "act like a stand" by holding a box or tray near the Technicians.  No handling of Equipment or Mission Models would be allowed by the stand, of course.

Do we know how big the stand will be? 

-- No.  But talk with your Tournament Director to find out the plan.  Also, it's my impression that most Virginia-DC FLL tournaments allow teams to bring their own stand, space permitting.

If we want to store anything off the Field, is that the only place authorized (besides the hands of the technicians)?

Rule 12 only allows off-Field Storage on a stand.  We will certainly enforce that for all Mission Models, for a variety of reasons.

Some referees will be more lenient with team Equipment.  [We tell ourselves that "a team member just holding Equipment is kind of like a stand..."]  FWIW, Scott Evans, the game designer, is uncomfortable with the idea of non-Technicians holding Equipment, but I'm still working on him.

Steve Scherr

Referee Advisor

Virginia-DC FLL

On Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 11:15 AM, Skip Morrow <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I have a question about Rule 12 - STORAGE first bullet point:

"Anything completey in Base may be moved/stored off the Field, but must stay in view of the Ref, on a stand"

​This is the same verbiage used last year, but it would seem that the rule was actually enforced as if it instead said "Mission Models" instead​. Specifically, last year my technicians wanted to have the team members standing behind the line load the food that had been retrieved from the refrigerator into an attachment. We were told that could not be allowed because the food (a mission model) would be out of sight from the refs. We were told though, that the team members standing behind the line could handle the attachments. Maybe the refs were being nice, and that is fine. But this year I want to be better prepared. 

1. Can the team members standing behind the line handle anything during a match? Specifically can they handle attachments? Mission Models?

2. Can we count on there being a "stand" (is that a table?) at our regional tournament? Do we know how big the stand will be? If we want to store anything off the stand, is that the only place authorized (besides the hands of the technicians)?

Sorry for the many questions, but when my team practices, I want to replicate the tournament conditions as closely as possible. Swapping out attachments is a big part of our strategy so it is important for us to have it right during practice.

Thanks in advance!

Skip Morrow

Coach, Norfolk Collegiate

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