A Blog Post for Coaches and those traveling to State and Champs

State Championship

Teams attending state here is a reminder of things you need to do PRIOR to coming to the state championship.

Prior to FIN State Championship

  • Teams will need to confirm prior to the District/State Championship whether they will accept (if offered) a spot at FIRST Championship in Houston. Teams are required to fill out the FIRST Championship Survey Form by April 12, 2022.
    • Note: Teams can fill this out multiple times if their situation changes. If you indicate in the survey that you are not planning to attend FIRST Championship in Houston, the additional steps below do not apply to you.
  • If your team answers no, we will not offer you a spot unless you submit a new response changing your answer
  • Teams should start to get any required local approvals needed (such as permission from a school) to travel to FIRST Championship.
  • FIN will be providing a letter of support on behalf of the members of the winning alliance and the teams advancing based on points to the FIRST Championship. The letter of support will give you an extra few days to get the payment processed by the school, etc. This ALSO puts FIN on the hook for making sure you’re submitting your payment to FIRST Inspires – we are making the choice to provide this support as your District Leadership regardless of the risk associated with being on the hook for $20,000. Please work with us and have open lines of communication in the days leading up to the FIRST Championship.
  • Teams need to work with their school and be prepared to process the payment as quickly as possible leading up to and after the State Championship event. To get a head-start on planning, a Championship Pro Forma Invoice can be created here for team use in processing a check or purchase order locally. 

Payment Types:

  1. Check:(USD funds only drawn on a U.S. bank).  Please make sure that all checks remitted state your Program and Team or Account Number to enable swift & proper crediting.
  1. Make payable to:FIRST
    Addressed to:FIRST
    Attn: Finance
    200 Bedford Street 
    Manchester, NH 03101
  1. Purchase Order (PO)  
  1. Commitment Letter from entity other than Schools or School Districts:  FIRST Finance will accept a commitment letter from a business entity. The commitment letter must be on their letterhead and signed by the individual who is taking the responsibility for guaranteeing that payment is made to FIRST.  All Commitment Letters must provide FIRST with an address and phone number of a contact to verify funding(s).  FIRST Finance will work directly with business entity if needed.

 

  • Payment confirmation, after April 4th, for Purchase Orders/Copy of check/Commitment Letter should be uploaded here.

Championship Housing

  • FIN is still working with our contacts at HQ to book a large group hotel for those traveling on the coach bus, in the meantime, I would recommend looking at the hotel information provided below by FIRST Inspires and booking hotel reservations for your team, which can be canceled free of charge via Conference Direct:
    • You can find a list of the hotels on the Hotel Grid
    • If your team plans on attending the FIRST Championship in Houston (if qualified) you should book your Hotel Reservations now. The cancellation fee through Conference Direct has been waived for this season. Please check the hotel’s cancellation policy for any fees.

FIN Has a Bus for Championship

We will have one bus available for teams to purchase seats on.  The seats will cost $364 per person.

Departure- Tuesday, April 20th, 6 PM Eastern

Location – Center Grove Innovation Center – 2789 Trojan Ln, Greenwood, IN 46143

Directions to the Innovation Center – https://goo.gl/maps/E2612HRcmkiwHemL7

People can leave their cars there.  The bus will leave Houston 6-8 PM and return to Greenwood around 2-3 PM Eastern Time.

Check the spreadsheet for seat availability – https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VwzDEbH8tHGEzx3pwp9D70p84zamYLRyCK2EGTORXWU/edit#gid=0

We also have a set of rooms in a block.  $204/night Wed-Sun

Please contact Dan Leathers, Renee Becker-Blau, and Chris Osborne for seats on the bus.  cosborne@firstindianarobotics.org rbb@firstindianarobotics.org dleathers@firstindianarobotics.org

State Information

Check out the website for all details regarding state.

 

Television Broadcast

Check out ISC Sports Network to get all the details for the television broadcast.  We will also live stream on Twitch.  www.twitch.tv/firstinrobotics

 

Some Championship Information

Official Web Page for Championship – https://www.firstchampionship.org/

Pre-Order Box Lunches – https://www.firstchampionship.org/sites/default/files/2022/Box%20Lunch%20Order%20Form.pdf

Event Guide – MAKE SURE TO READ COVID POLICIES