EARLY Coaches,

 

Hello!  The Spring 2008 Engineering And Robotics Learned Young (EARLY) Tournament at Hogg Middle School will be held on May 17th and it is going to be quite an event.  Please register your teams at www.HoustonRobotics.org.   Registration will close Tuesday, May 13th.  Tournament details (match schedule, maps, etc.) will be posted to HoustonRobotics.org as they become available.

 

Below are the details to help you plan for the tournament.  Please take a few minutes to review everything.  The two items that require pre tournament action are TEAM BANNER and MEDIA RELEASE FORMS.  If you have any questions or comments, please email us.

 

We would like thank our sponsors that make this tournament possible.  A special thanks HISD and Hogg Middle School for providing the facilities and operations personnel, along with NASA for providing the supplies for the tournament.

 

Thanks for exposing our students to engineering,

EARLY Committee

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IT'S ALL ABOUT THE STUDENTS

Let's encourage an atmosphere where every student learns and will remember this tournament for the rest of their lives.

 

DATE

Saturday, May 17th, 2008

 

LOCATION

Houston Independent School District Hogg Middle School

1100 Merrill Street

Houston, TX   77009

 

The tournament will be held in the "New Gym"

 

LET US KNOW YOU ARE COMING

Register your team(s) at www.HoustonRobotics.org (direct link:  www.houstonrobotics.org/Form/EARLYteamRegistration.asp).

 

TEAM BANNERS (PRE TOURNAMENT ACTION)

Please bring a team banner (about poster board size) with your team name and organization on it.  During the medals ceremony, we will have a parade of teams and award the medals as each team parades in front of the playing field.

 

MEDIA RELEASE FORMS (PRE TOURNAMENT ACTION)

Please bring a copy of each team member's media release form and turn them in at registration.  The school's release form is acceptable.  In lieu of release forms from each student, a letter from the administration stating that the release forms are on-file at the school will be accepted.

 

DIRECTIONS

A map to the school is at www.HoustonRobotics.org at www.houstonrobotics.org/EARLYtournament/MapToVenue.htm

 

PARKING

The parking lots at the school will be available for your use.  Since Hogg is a middle school, parking is limited but since the school is in a residential area, there is plenty of parking on the neighboring streets.  Come early to get a good spot.  Also, please feel free to drop off your equipment at the front of the school then park.

 

FORMAT

Each team will participate in 3 seeding matches.  In addition to the seeding matches, the top 16 teams (sum of the top 2 scores) will qualify for the finals.

 

SCHEDULE

Please plan for a long day.  The students have worked very hard and deserve the chance to compete.  Please be patient with us as we give the students their time to shine.  Below is the agenda for the day.

 

7:30 Pits open & Registration begins

8:20 Coaches meeting

9:00 Opening ceremonies (please have your complete team in the New Gym @ 9:00)

9:20 Let the matches begin

11:00 Lunch Break (after the second round)

11:30 Seeding rounds continue

1:30 Elimination rounds begin

3:00 Closing ceremonies

We should conclude the day by 3:30.

 

COACHES MEETING

The coaches meeting will be at 8:20 in the New Gym.  The tournament director will go over the tournament guidelines and answer any questions.  In this meeting, we will ask the coaches to help us stay on schedule which primarily means having your team ready for their matches.

 

REGISTRATION

Registration will start at 7:30; please come early to register.  Please pay the $30 tournament fee at registration; make checks payable to Hogg Middle School.  If you are an HISD school, you may MOTE the tournament fee to Hogg Middle School. 

 

PITS

The pits will be in the New Gym.  There will be no pit assignments so please be courteous when setting up your workspace.  You may proceed to the pit as soon as you arrive at the tournament.

 

OPENING CEREMONIES

Please have your team in the New Gym at 9:00.  We will sing the national anthem, and listen to a few words about the tournament.  Immediately after the opening ceremonies, the robot matches will begin so the first 8 teams need to be ready to compete.

 

ROBOT MATCHES

Matches will be held approximately every 5 minutes.  There will be two robots competing simultaneously.  Please stress to your team that they should be ready to go as soon as the previous match is completed.  Please refer to the event timer for the match number so you can be ready for your match.

 

QUEUING OF TEAMS

We will queue 2 teams for each playing field.  Please help by having your team in the queue approximately 5 minutes before your match.

 

AWARDS

There will be four awards.  Each team member attending the awards ceremony will get a medallion for participating.

 

Performance Award

Design Award

Sportsmanship Award

Spirit Award

 

COMMENTS, COMPLIMENTS & CONCERNS

Please address your comments and concerns directly to the tournament director, Lucien Junkin.  He will be more than happy to resolve any issues.  Any compliments can be delivered directly to those you wish to compliment.

 

FOOD

Hogg Middle School student organizations will be providing snacks and drinks.  Please support these organizations by purchasing your snacks and drinks from them if possible.  Hogg Middle School has been a terrific sponsor for this event and this is a great way for us to say thank you and to gather their future support.