FIRST LEGO League Tournament Volunteers!
You are the "U" in Volunteer!

EVENT WEATHER ADVISORY STATUS: CLICK HERE FOR LATEST INFORMATION - as of 1/10/12 - EVENTS ARE SCHEDULED AS PLANNED

Judges, Referees and mostly Day-of-the-Event Volunteers needed for the

Intel Oregon FIRST LEGO League Championship presented by Rockwell Collins
January 14 and 15, 2012
at Liberty High School

We have filled all volunteer postitions for the FLL Championship - Jan 14/15.

Volunteers are needed for our upcoming high school FIRST Tech Challenge Qualifying Tournaments and Championship in January - February - CLICK HERE

 

 

ALL ROLES ARE NOW FILLED FOR THE FLL CHAMPIONSHIP

JUDGES	Judges assess the teams in many categories, including originality, problem solving and the ability to improvise. Training is required by webinar or in person. Click here for training schedule. Robot Design Judges: Interview team members about the design and programming of the robot they have created to solve some of the missions of the annual robot challenge. Presentation Judges: Listen to each team's presentation on their research project and ask questions about it. Core Values Judges: Observe and ask questions about the teamwork skills of each team and how they implemented the FLL Core Values.
REFEREES	Referees score the action on the robot tables and Table resetters are their support team. Training is required by teleconference or in person. Click here for training schedule 1. Referee - score the results of each robot run on the competition table against the challenge criteria. Must fully understand the challenge rules and expected outcomes of each mission. 2. Table Resetter - restores the Lego competition field back to original state after each competition in preparation for the next team. Should be comfortable working with LEGO and need to learn the challenge competition table setup. Some tournaments rotate referee team members between the Referee and Resetter positions during the day.
All Judges and Referees must be at least 18 years of age. There are limited roles for persons under 18 to assist the referee crew or be a judge. Paticipation of persons under 18 years of age must be approved by the State Tournament Head Referee or Head Judge. Please send an email request to questions@ortop.org . All day of the event volunteers must be at least 13 years of age by FIRST policy. Some tournament directors require that volunteers be 18 years of age because of venue policy. Restrictions: Coaches and mentors and adults associated with teams may neither attend judge or referee training sessions nor serve as judges, referees, table setters or timekeepers if their team is participating in the FLL Championship. They may however, serve as team queuers, or day of the event volunteers etc. All volunteers are required to sign a FIRST Consent Release Form.
"DAY OF THE EVENT"Tournament Volunteers	REGISTRATION / INFORMATION CREW Checks in teams; directs participants, VIPs, volunteers and parents to the proper areas; and answers questions.
	HOSPITALITY CREW Serves breakfast, lunch and snacks in the volunteer break room. Brings water/snacks to volunteers not able to leave their post.
	JUDGE SUPPORT CREW There are three separate types of judging rooms: Technical, Project and Teamwork. Judge Queuer: Keeps judging rooms on schedule, flow of teams in & out of judging area Judge Assistant: Escorts teams in & out of judging room, acts as time keeper and keeps judge panel on schedule. Parent Queing/Escort: Escorts parents in & out of the Project room.
	OPENING/CLOSING CEREMONIES CREW Assist the tournament director in executing the opening and closing ceremonies. Roles vary with each tournament.
	PIT ADMINISTRATION CREW The Pit is a gym with a table for each team where they keep their belongings, tune up their robot and hang out while waiting for their next event.   At a tournament, there are two new teams at the competition tables every 4 minutes. Volunteers escort and line up the teams to keep the flow going and the tournament on schedule throughout the day. Pit Runner: Escorts the team from the pit to the Table Competition area. Bullpen Crew: Several specific roles dedicated to positioning teams waiting for their turn on the Power Puzzle Competition Table.
	PRACTICE TABLE CREW During the day teams can try out their robot on a practice Power Puzzle competition table. Practice Table Monitors ensure an orderly and fair use of the practice tables and Food Factor Missions & Field Set-up
	SECURITY CREW Security volunteers direct the teams to correct venue locations, prevent teams and guest from entering prohibited venue areas by checking name tags/wristbands. Security ensures that teams adhere to site regulations and would help direct the crowd in case of an emergency.
LOAD-IN /LOAD-OUT CREWS	Load-in/Load-out Crew members set up tables, chairs, signs and equipment before the event and remove them afterward.  This is not a thankless volunteer job. Our tournament directors will thank you many times for volunteering for this important role. Please consider volunteering for this job by itself or in addition to other roles.
PRE-TOURNAMENT PREPARATION VOLUNTEERS	The Tournament Director, Head Judge/Referee and Crew Leads need help preparing in advance of the tournament. This includes printing materials, stuffing folders/envelopes, building field set-up kits, organizing materials, shopping for food, etc.  The tournament director will connect with you regarding what’s needed.

 

 

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Coaches

A coach can be a

• teacher
• club leader
• scout master
• parent

Coaches should

• recruit team members
• determine when teams meets
• instill spirit in team
• schedule meetings
• arrange for practice table or equivalent
• register team
• order kits, etc.
• understand the rules
• have fun
• co-coach or otherwise pair up
• keep a positive attitude
• emphasize demonstrating a solution at the tournament is success
• don't over emphasize winning
• not worry about the solution; that's up to the team

Coaches

• subscribe to the coach's honor code.
• encourage teamwork
• insist on mutual respect
• facilitate development of timeline
• deal with parents
  • communicate about tournament philosophy, goals, rules
  • solicit help
• communicate with school, etc.
• don't have to be technical expert; rely on mentor for that.

Those who are interested in becoming coaches are encouraged to register for no-charge no-obligation workshops. If you have already attended a workshop and want to remind us of your interest in serving as a coach or assistant coach please contact us.

Mentors

Mentors should

• be a technical advisor
• let coach do his/her job
• understand both
  • robot design
  • programming
• encourage structured problem solving
• experiment with one variable at a time
• set achievable goals
• remember team members are kids
• limit terminology
• have fun

When mentors meet with a team they should pick one or two new subjects per session

• Loops
• Sensors
• Gears
• Pulleys
• Tracks
• Wheels
• Programming techniques

Mentors should

• meet with the coach regularly
• subscribe to the coach's honor code.
• don’t solve problems for team
• focus on questions not answers

Mentors should teach problem solving, including

• defining the problem
• brainstorming
• evaluating alternatives
• choosing alternative
• implementing
• evaluating & testing

ESCO Corporation statement on the value of being a FIRST LEGO League technical mentor.

Many teams combine the roles of coach and mentor in or two adults. Those who are interested in becoming mentors and coaches who will be mentoring teams are encouraged to register for no-charge no-obligation workshops. If you have already attended a workshop and want to remind us of your interest in serving as a mentor or assistant mentor please contact us.

Committee Members

Volunteer Coordinator

ORTOP needs a volunteer to help recruit and coordinate volunteers for the two Oregon FLL Championships. The volunteer coordinator will also help recruit volunteers to direct them to the qualifying tournaments directors. Interested persons should contact Cathy Swider at questions@ortop.org

Key Local Tournament Roles

Role	Responsibility
Qualifying Tournament Director	Recruits the organizing team and oversees staging the qualifying tournament. Handles the budget and sponsors’ donations.
Site/Facility coordinator	Works with the owners of the site to establish areas to be used, requirements for utilities, support services, etc.
Head Referee	Recruits the Referee Team and ensures that all receive detailed training prior to the tournament.
Head Judge	Recruits the Judge Team and ensures that all receive detailed training prior to the tournament.
Volunteer coordinator	Recruits and assigns Tournament Day volunteers.
Food coordinator	Arranges food and refreshments for volunteers and other participants as needed.

 

Tournament Organizers

There’s no secret to running a good FLL program; it's just like competing in FLL. You think creatively, treat people with respect, and work hard. Put yourself in your customer’s position (student, coach, teacher, or volunteer) and ask yourself, "What would I want?" But to get you started, here’s a list of things you’ll need to think about:

• Tournament venue
• All needed equipment
• Food for participants and volunteers
• Paid helpers, like custodial staff
• Volunteers
• Parking and traffic plans
• Directional signs around the building
• Pre-tournament communication with teams, volunteers, and supporters