Team Signup for 2007 local tournament is now CLOSED

This is the signup page for the 2007 Los Altos FLL tournament. The Los Altos tournament will be on Dec 2, 2007 and is one of about 10 qualifying tournaments for the Northern California State Tournament, NCaFLL.

Application for the local tournament priority list and the "I need a team" list are now CLOSED. Teams can still apply for a qualifying tournament at the NCaFLL web site at www.NCaFLL.org

Click here for our registration FAQ.
Click here for an overview of the Los Altos Robotics FIRST LEGO League Program.

TigerBots Email List Both coaches and parents should subscribe to our email list in order to get important announcements about the group. Simply send email to: TigerBots-subscribe@yahoogroups.com You can find out more about the list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TigerBots. Your email address will be kept private and not distributed outside of Los Altos Robotics board and coaches. If you decide to unsubscribe, email : TigerBots-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

"I Need a Team" Registration For Players Who Are NOT Currently on a Team

Until September 7, 2007, we are accepting player "I Need a Team List" registration at the following location:

After September 7th, you may continue to register, however, many teams will have filled up by then and you may need to form a new one.

You should print out and have you and your child complete the Los Altos Robotics player and parent contract.You need Adobe Acrobat to view this file. Coaches will typically collect these documents at the first team meeting.

Since the player is not on a team, specify team preference information if any. Leave the team name and coaches name blank. NOTE: Los Altos Robotics does NOT assign players to teams. You will still need to find a team or form one.

Teams will collect between $120 - $180 per player to cover expenses such as purchasing the Challenge Kit and leasing a robotics set for your player to use during the season. Refer to team registration below for more details about team expenses. Los Altos Robotics DOES NOT collect player registration fees. Instead, teams pay LAR a team fee. Typically, a team will collect $125 up front and then collect any additional money after the season expenses are finalized.  

Registration does NOT guarentee that your child will be on a robotics team: Unfortunately, every year there are players who have to be turned away because they cannot find a team to be on. The limiting factor is finding a coach for the team. Los Altos Robotics is working hard to make it as easy as possible for coaches. Volunteers built playing fields for coaches, lease out robotics kits, and provide excellent coaches training. We also can have mentors attend meetings to help players resolve issues and do planning. For more information on forming teams, please read here.

Registration Agreement: All team members are expected to help design, build, and program the robot. Team members can specialize or work on a variety of these tasks. In order to be an effective team, members who are disruptive or disrespectful inside or outside of the team meetings will be warned and then removed from the team. The coach will have final say in who is accepted, removed or kept on the team. Team members removed will not be reimbursed fees.

Parent Participation: When filling out the registration, you should specify if you have interest in any of the following roles: Team Coach(1), Assistant Coach(1-2), Team Manager(1), Practice Session Host (provide a large room for the team meetings).

Also, every team will be required to provide one or more volunteers for the scrimmage and local tournament. Click here for Tournament Volunteer roles.

We ask that all parents check with their children to make sure they want to be on a FIRST LEGO league team before signing them up.  It is clear to the coordinators that several of the children in past years have been less than enthusiastic about being on a team.  They end up playing with the LEGOs and detracting from the experience of those that are excited about being on a team.  Worse yet, they may prevent others from being on a team because we run out of space.  So please don't sign them up because it will be "a good experience" for them.  If they are excited about being on a team, we are excited about having them on a team.  So if you are still interested, please read the rest of this message and send the information requested below. You may also want to visit the frequently asked questions page.

National Registration required for Los Altos Robotics FIRST LEGO League Tournament

To participate in the Los Altos Tournament, you are required to register your team with the FIRST National registration at:

Registration started on May 15, 2007 and signing up early allows you to get your materials sooner since they ship based on the order teams register. Don't worry about the name that is selected - you can change it later after the team meets. The important thing is to order the materials asap.

The national team registration requires that you purchase the playing field kits, which includes coaches manuals, playing field lego pieces, and a cd-rom with instructions. You will want this material as soon as possible.

National team registration also allows you to purchase one robotics kits, however, you can register a team WITHOUT purchasing the robotics kits. Once the team is organized, you can decide what robotics kits you need. Kits run over $300 to purchase, so kids usually share one or two kits. With the new NXT kits, many teams have found that an entire team can share one kit and work on one computer more efficiently that with the older RCX kits. However, a larger team will likely want 2 kits. In Los Altos Robotics, you have 3 choices (or any combination of them) for kits:

  1. Purchase new kits through the National registration page;
  2. Lease kits from Los Altos Robotics. Click here for prices and details;
  3. Use a players existing Mindstorms kit (if they have one) and have them purchase any extra parts that they need and are allowed for competition.

If you have more questions about leasing or ordering robotics kits, contact: Robotics Kit Coordinator and Leasing: Tom Sartor KitsLosAltosRobotics.Org

In addition, if you are coaching a team, please let us know if your team is seeking additional players. We can forward names to you. Please coordinate carefully with us on the status of players for your team and let us know when the team if full. Use the email address: RegistrarLosAltosRobotics.Org.

Team Application for Los Altos Robotics FIRST LEGO League Tournament

In addition to the national registration, there is a Los Altos Robotics team application and fee as follows:

  1. Los Altos scrimmage and tournament fee: $50 (required)
  2. 4' x 8' playing field board: $40 (optional)
  3. Los Altos Robotics 2007 FLL Tournamnet t-shirts: $16 per shirt (optional)

Submitting the form at the following link is an application to participate in the Los Altos scrimmage and tournament. The Los Altos tournament has a limited capacity and overflow teams will be directed to other tournament locations. In recent years, the NCaFLL qualifiers have had enough tournament capacity for all Northern California teams.

You must identify a tournament role and volunteer as a pre-requisite for a slot assignment at the Los Altos tournament. You may submit role/volunteer information on the application OR soon after with the volunteer coordinator, Mike Murray. You may decide to have multiple parents split a volunteer role so that they get a break. Teams run in specified time slots, so you will have a chance to watch your team in the tournament even while doing a volunteer role.

Please make sure you get confirmation from Mike Murray that your information is complete. Slot assignments for the Los Altos tournament will be announced in mid September.

Click here for descriptions of Tournament Volunteer roles.

The team fee is due by Sep 21, 2007. Please wait to submit the fees until AFTER you have been notified that you have a tournament slot. Please include an itemized list of the names of players who want a t-shirt. If you want additional t-shirts for coaches or family, please specify how many and what sizes (YS, YM, YL, S, M, L, XL, XXL). Each shirt is $16. Mail the team fee and shirt order, payable to Los Altos Robotics, to:

Los Altos Robotics Team Registration
809 Cuesta Drive #B-2210
Mountain View, CA 94040

If you have questions, email RegistrarLosAltosRobotics.Org or call Michael Schuh at (650) 965-8037. If you plan to order the playing field board, please send an email as soon as possible (no later than Sep 3rd), so that we have time to build it before the Challenge is announced. You will need to pick it up when it is built.

For more details about expenses and options for a Los Altos Robotics FLL team, please refer to Team Procedures and Kits document.

Los Altos Robotics Coaches Training

Coaches training was held on Sunday, Sep 9, 2007, 3-6 PM at Oak school. Notes from the training in 2005 are at: Los Altos Robotics Coaches Training Notes.

The NCaFLL partner, Playing At Learning, is planning to offer coaches training in late September.

Steve Putz also offers coaches training. Call him at: (408) 910-1176 or visit the web site: Robotics Learning Coaches Training.