In response to continued safety concerns and necessary social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FIRST is pleased to offer remote event options for teams with the intent of making the experience as close as possible to a traditional FIRST program event while keeping everyone safe in their own spaces. As an organization that teaches young people how to solve problems and innovate, we are doing the same in order to ensure that we are fulfilling our mission and enabling our community to stay safely engaged with FIRST programs in the challenging season ahead.
For the FIRST® LEGO® League and FIRST® Tech Challenge for the 2020/2021 FIRST® GAME CHANGERS powered by Star Wars: Force for Change qualifying tournament season, we will be hosting “Remote Events” only. While our goal is to make the experience as close as possible to a traditional, in-person FIRST event, modifications will be made as we transition to a remote environment. FIRST Headquarters has developed the Remote Event Hub, which will allow us to safely provide a comprehensive remote experience for teams and volunteers. Please see below for an overview of the Remote Event structure in Ontario.
- Overall event structure (subject to change)
- All components of the events will be conducted using video conferencing or online submissions with no in-person components
- Event components (ie., online judging and robot game submissions) will occur over the course of a few days, in the evenings after the school day has ended
- A final “Showcase Day” will take place on the Saturday following the completion of these components
- Robot Game
- For FIRST LEGO League Challenge, teams will upload video footage of their robots competing on their “home” table for scoring by an official referee (in the safety of their own space)
- For FIRST Tech Challenge, teams will submit scores into the Remote Event Hub app for scoring
- In both cases, teams are expected to practice safe COVID procedures as outlined by current health and safety regulations
- Judging
- We will use video conferencing software for judging for both programs. Teams will be asked to join the meeting with their coaches and all planning for the judging session should be conducted remotely as well, to ensure safety.
- A schedule will be set up for teams to be judged in the evenings after school hours.
- Award submission, evaluation, and feedback
- Our volunteers will take the robot score videos/submission and the online judging aspects into consideration for awards to be showcased on the “Showcase Day”
- “Showcase Day” live-streamed
- This will conclude the week on Saturday and will include:
- an Opening Ceremony
- video recordings of the robot games for each team with live commentary by our Game Announcers
- some team showcase elements (project presentations, team journeys, etc.)
- a Closing Ceremony, which includes awards
- This will conclude the week on Saturday and will include:
FIRST Canada is also pleased to announce the following events:
September 15
FIRST Canada LIVE! show for all FIRST Programs – every Tuesdays
October – November
FIRST Robotics Competition Skills Challenge
2056 Inspires
FIRST North Bay Conference
November 30 – December 5
FIRST LEGO League Challenge Remote Practice events
December 12
FIRST LEGO League Explore Remote Festival
January 23 – February 13
FIRST LEGO League Challenge Remote Qualifying Events
January 23 – February 13
FIRST Tech Challenge Remote Qualifying Events
March – April
If it is deemed safe based on current guidelines: FIRST Robotics Competition Events will be one-day events (18 teams) with expanded safety measures in place.
April 14 – April 17
FIRST LEGO League Challenge, FIRST Tech Challenge, FIRST Robotics Competition Provincials in April