Prepare for the Wisconsin INTO THE DEEP℠ Season

Important Dates & Deadlines:

• September 6th - RSVP for Upcoming Kickoff Events

• September 7th - INTO THE DEEP℠ Kickoff (Madison, Milwaukee, Manitowoc)

• September 12th - Mentor & Student Leadership Meeting (Virtual)

• September 14th - April Tag Training (open to the public - in Manitowoc)

• September 14th - Year Two Google.org Training (2nd year Google.org teams only - in Manitowoc)

• September 21st - 22nd - FTC Professional Development Training for Google.org Rookie Teams - Western Technical College (La Crosse)

• October 24th - 25th - FTC Professional Development Training for Google.org Rookie Teams - MSOE (Milwaukee)

• November 23rd - Start of Wisconsin FTC Competition season

Exciting Updates:

• Studica will be providing equipment for door prizes for teams attending one of our three in-person Kickoff events!

• Team Projections this season:

  • Goals:

    • Team Retention Rate: ~95%

    • Rookie Teams: 24

    • Approximate Team Number: 104

• Competition Season - Timeline and Preferencing

  • Projected to have ten QT events for an average event play of 2.3 per team.

    • Piloting a handful of double-event, Saturday and Sunday, same-venue, Qualifying Tournaments to accommodate all of the events this season.

    • We'll see more events taking place on the Western side of Wisconsin growth - Events to be hosted in Madison and La Crosse

  • Last season, first round event preferencing opened October 4th; for the INTO THE DEEP season, we are targeting an earlier date to open event preferencing. .

    • In future seasons, our goal is to have all qualifying tournament dates finalized by FTC Kickoff.

  • The first FTC Qualifying Tournament will take place November 23rd

  • Our FTC State Championship is tentatively scheduled for March 7th - 8th, 2025

    • It will be officially confirmed after contract is finalized

    • Currently discussing a schedule that includes Friday night team load-in and judging.

      • This decision is pending release of the full season manual to review any season-updates that should be taken into account.

      • Schedule updates for the State Championship will be clearly communicated leading up to the first Qualifying Tournament.

Volunteer Needs:

• With the growth of the FIRST Tech Challenge program in Wisconsin we have a number of high priority volunteer roles we need to fill.

• Please consider helping us recruit volunteers for the following roles!

  • Field Supervisor

  • Emcee

  • Game Announcer

  • A/V Director

  • Rookie Judges

Community Communications & Meetings:

• Current FTC Mentors and volunteers, watch for an invitation (to be sent the week before Kickoff) to join a FIRST Wisconsin FTC Slack Workspace,

  • Our goal is to streamline peer-to-peer communications, increase knowledge about volunteer needs, and provide valuable Q&A to new coaches and mentors.

• Google.org Grants for Rookie Middle School Teams are available - Now's the time to register and attend Professional Development Training!

• RSVP for the first FTC Mentor & Student Leadership meeting of the year on Thursday, September 12th from 8-9pm CT

Watch for more updates on the FTC program page leading up to FTC Kickoff!

All the Best,

Renee