Mid-Atlantic Robotics

FLL Participation Policy

FIRST Mid-Atlantic FLL and FLL Jr. Events

For this season FMA-FLL will cover the PA-Southeast region. You can go the FMA-FLL Website to see a map of our region and others around us. The Event Participation Policy applies to all FIRST Mid-Atlantic FLL and FLL Jr. Events later referred to as FMA-FLL/FLL Jr. This includes, primarily, Workshops, Regional Qualifying Tournaments or RQTs and the FLL Championships event. Some events listed on our website’s Events Page are FMA-FLL/FLL Jr. managed Events while others are Team Powered Events.

Team Powered Events

The Event Participation Policy applies to all events marked as “Team Powered “. These are hosted and managed by FIRST Mid-Atlantic FRC/FTC/FLL/FLL Jr Teams. In addition to this policy, teams and their school/organization hosting Team Powered Events may have their own policies. Please contact the Event Coordinator for full details.

Conflicting Statements

In the event of a conflicting statement between this Policy and other webpages or forms on this site, this Event Participation Policy applies. Certain events may have additional participation criteria as defined on that event webpage which augment this policy. For example, a “rookie tournament” may limit participation to teams newly established this season.

Youth Protection

This section applies to all Coaches, Mentors and other Adults affiliated with a Team participating in FMA-FLL/FLL JR. events.

Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law

In 2014, 23 pieces of legislation were enacted including Act 153 of 2014 and Act 15 of 2015, changing how Pennsylvania responds to child abuse. These changes significantly affect the reporting, investigation, assessment, prosecution and judicial handling of child abuse and neglect cases.

Beginning August 25, 2015, many adult volunteers are required to obtain background checks, including the Child Abuse History Clearance, issued by the Department of Human Services, and the Criminal History Record Check, issued by the Pennsylvania State Police. More information may be found on the keep kids safe website http://keepkidssafe.pa.gov, including frequently asked questions.

The compliance of these new Pennsylvania laws is the responsibility of each individual team and their School or Organization.

FIRST Youth Protection Program

The FIRST Youth Protection Program is an important part of the protection of our youth. Although the overall goals of the Pennsylvania Child Protection Services Law and the FIRST Youth Protection Program may be similar, the background checks required by each are different and both sets are required. Adults working with FIRST Teams are required to follow the requirements outlined in FIRST Youth Protection Program.

Consent and Release

A completed and signed FIRST Consent and Release Form for each student, coach, and mentor participating at all RQTs, Jr. Expos and Regional Championships. Each student must have a signed FIRST Consent and Release Form completed by a parent or legal guardian. Students, coaches, and mentors cannot participate in the event without a signed Consent and Release form. These forms can be filled out electronically or by hard copy.

  • Electronically – A printed FIRST Team Roster showing that each students parent or guardian has electronically filled out the Consent and Release form online. This is shown on the roster with a green checkmark.
  • Hard copy – The Coach or Mentor must bring a signed hard copy of the form signed by the student’s parent or legal guardian.

The FIRST Team Roster from the FIRST Dashboard / Team Registration System MUST be handed in at all FMA RQTs, Championships and FLL Jr. Expos at check-in, regardless if the coach is handing in hard copies of each Consent and Release form. If the Roster from the Team Registration System is blank, the Coach should write in the names of each student competing at the event.

Qualifier / Expo Eligibility

This section applies to FLL Qualifying Tournaments, FLL Jr. Expos and the FMA-FLL Championship Tournament. In this section these events are collectively referred to as a RQTs or Expos. Some FLL RQTs are also running FLL Expos at the same event. A FLL Jr. team may only initially sign up for a single Jr. Expo or RQT with embedded Jr Expo. As the event approaches, additional EXPOs slots may open and be offered to FLL Jr. teams. Emails will be posted to cover this.

Participation

Only FMA-FLL or FMA-FLL Jr. teams in the PA-Southeast Region, in good standing with FIRST AND with FIRST Mid-Atlantic FLL/FLL Jr. may participate in FMA RQTs and Expos. Teams must comply with the registration procedures that include, but are not limited to:

  • Registration request deadlines
  • RQT registration fee deadlines
  • Expo registration fee deadlines

Participants are required to follow all the RQT/Expo game rules specified in the current season’s Game Manuals.

Qualifying Tournament Jr. Expo Participation Limits

An FMA-FLL / FLL Jr. team may participate in one FMA-FLL RQT or one FMA-FLL Jr. Expo, and if invited the FMA-FLL Championship Tournament. Teams outside of the PA-Southeast Region are not eligible to attend any FLL RQTs or Expos run by FMA-FLL. Out-of-state teams may participate in Team Run Scrimmages, Expos, Workshops and other training events.

No Shows

A RQT or Expo where a Registered team No Shows or Withdraws without an approved exception will count as if the team had participated in that event.

Regional Qualifying Tournament (RQT) / FLL Expo

To be eligible to participate in a FMA-FLL RQT or a FLM-FLL Jr. Expo…

  • The team must be registered in the FIRST Management systems indicating they are paid for the current season.
  • The team must have a coach AND an assistant coach in the team entry in the FIRST system.
  • Each coach must have the Youth Protection completed by FIRST. This information is transmitted to FMA from FIRST for our PA-Southeast Region. FMA-FLL will only remind only paid teams if their registration qualification is not up to date.

Teams may forfeit their Event Registration Fee if they are on the Registered List for a FMA-FLL Qualifying Tournament or FMA-FLL Jr. Expo and they become ineligible to participate by FIRST. If the team is removed from a Registered List with less than two (2) weeks before the RQT, Expo or Champs date AND the slot vacated by the team cannot be filled, the team is still responsible for the Event Registration Fee.

FLL Championship Tournament (aka Champs)

To be eligible to participate in the FMA-FLL Championship Tournament:

  • Must meet all the above qualifications for an RQT as described above
  • The team must have advanced from an FMA-FLL RQT run by FMA-FLL. These are posted on the FMA-FLL website ender FLL PA-Southeast Events.

Teams may forfeit their Event Registration Fee if they are on the Registered List for a FMA-FLL Qualifying Tournament or FMA-FLL Jr. Expo and they become ineligible to participate by FIRST. If the team is removed from a Registered List with less than two (2) weeks before the Tournament date AND the slot vacated by the team cannot be filled, the team is still responsible for the Event Registration Fee.