Volunteering for FIRST LEGO League

Volunteering for Northern California FLL

Overview
FIRST LEGO League is an international competition that develops critical skills in science and technology in a super-charged learning atmosphere. Small teams of 9 to 14 year olds design, build, program and test an autonomous LEGO Mindstorms robot along with a project developed as a solution to a real world problem developed with experts. Students acquire skills such as problem solving, project management, critical thinking and teamwork: skills necessary to their future and the future of society.

This FLL season, over 300 Nor Cal teams of up to 10 members will compete at three levels of tournaments. These tournaments will be held all day on Saturdays or Sundays from November through January. We need two types of volunteers: specialty roles (such as judges and referees) that require training or prior experience, and general roles that do not. We are seeking adult volunteers for both types of positions, but can also utilize high school students for some general positions.

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Date	Tournament Location	City	Time *	# Judges Needed*				# Referees Needed*
table last updated 12/29/09 12pm
Tournaments will be on weekends between November and January throughout Northern California

Final Level Northern California Championship Tournament in January
Date	Tournament Location	City	Time *	Head	Project	Teamwork	Design	# Referees Needed*
1/16	likely Newark HS	Greater SF Bay Area	6am-7pm	0	15	16	16	5 +0
To volunteer, To self-assign for a General Role [see below for descriptions for most roles]: Youth (High School or older), Adults (includes college students, team parents) Note if you are not part of a team (FLL, FTC, or FRC), you are welcome to put in a company or organization affiliation for the "Team" line or just leave it blank. For potential judges and referees: send email to fllvolunteer@playingatlearning.org.

Volunteer FLL Release of Liability Consent Form English Spanish (on norcalfll.org)
Judge and Referee Conflict of Interest and Disclosure Form
FIRST Standards of Conduct for Volunteers [Word Doc, PDF]
Judges and Refs must be adults that are not affliated with a 2009 FLL team.

* Times and number of volunteers needed are estimated - specifics will come from each tournament organizer.

.... But I don't know anything about Engineering or LEGO Robots!? and other misconceptions
Each event requires many volunteers with a broad spectrum of talents to support teams, volunteers, audience members and competition demands. We cannot hold the competitions without volunteers. A variety of volunteer positions are available including both technical and non-technical. Many positions are available for those with no prior experience with robotics or even similar competitions. Training for judges and referees is available. In particular, the project and teamwork judges do not need to know anything about robots or LEGO Mindstorms or engineering. The best judges are those that are interested in supporting youth and asking questions. Judging is an interview and observation type of activity.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in partnership with The LEGO Company developed this international robotics competition, now in its 11th year. The competition involves students, teachers, mentors and coaches - and this year, this means more than 14,000 teams in over 50 countries will be inspired to learn more about Transportation (this year's theme). . Learn more about usfirst.org

Help Recruit

Help Spread the Message - Poster(pdf) Sample Letters (.txt) 1, 2, 3, 4 2009 FLL Overview (pdf)

Please help recruit additional volunteers: Print out the poster and put at your work site. Send emails out using one of the sample letters. Pass this URL along to anyone you think may be interested in volunteering. FLL tournaments are fast-moving, exciting, and rewarding. One you will remember!

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Dress Code is Casual - you will probably want to wear comfortable shoes. Judges will be sitting for part of the day and walking around talking / observing teams the rest of the day; Referees will be mostly standing.

Since Judges and Referees are the decision making crew of a tournament, we require that they be adults that are not affiliated with a 2009 FLL team - this is why we need you! These positions do require a couple of hours of training beforehand (self-paced materials plus a short conference call); you will need to volunteer at the tournament all day through handing out the awards at the award ceremony - approximately 8 hours.

Volunteers are needed to enable the approximately 3,000 Northern California FLL youth to compete at tournaments and demonstrate what they have achieved!

To help the tournament organizers plan these events, please sign up as soon as you can; on the other hand, last minute volunteers are always welcome. We'd also appreciate your help spreading the word to other potential volunteers.

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Why Volunteer? It's Fun! It's Inspiring! and it does Make a Difference. FIRST Works!

“FLL enables us to be a player in the community. The kids enjoy it and our employees get a kick out of it as volunteers. The feeling is that we’re all in this together.” Tom Pirelli, Chairman, ArialPhone Corporation

"BAE Systems’ involvement in FIRST LEGO League is an essential piece of the company’s commitment to the community and education. I believe it is BAE Systems’ role to help develop a passion for science, mathematics, research, and teamwork within students. They are tomorrow’s leaders, scientists, and engineers." Mike Heffron, President Information Warfare, Electronics and Integrated Solutions

*Note* not all of the following positions are needed at all of the tournaments.
Volunteer Positions Needed:		Share-Able?	HS Youth Accepted?
Specialty Roles
	Referee - training required	No	No
	Project Judge - training required	No	No
	Teamwork Judge - training required	No	No
	Design Judge - training required	No	No
	Robot Inspector- training available	Yes	Maybe
	Scorekeeper- training available	No	No
	Pit Boss	No	No
	Floor Queue Manager	Prefer not	No
	Emcee [play by play] - training available	Yes	Yes
	Field Reset Crew - training available	Prefer not	Yes


Volunteer Positions Needed:		Share-Able?	HS Youth Accepted?
General Tournament Roles
	DJ	Prefer not	Yes
	Timekeeper	Yes	No
	Pit Crew & Security	Yes	Yes
	Volunteer Registration	No	Yes
	PIT Cleanup Crew	Yes	Yes
	Cleanup Crew	Yes	Yes
	Team Check-In	No	Yes
	Media Coordinator	Prefer not	Maybe
	VIP Coordinator	Prefer not	Maybe
	Opening Ceremony Host	No	Maybe
	Closing Ceremony Host	No	Maybe
	Information Desk	Yes	Maybe
	Pit Announcer	Yes	Maybe
	Judging Aide	Yes	Yes
	Presentation Videographer	Yes	Yes
	Security / Crowd Control	Yes	Yes
	First Aid	Yes	Maybe
	Concession Sales	Yes	Yes
	Photographer	Yes	Yes
	Videographer	Yes	Yes
	Team Runner	Yes	Yes

Exact tournament times and total number of each volunteer role that is needed will depend on size of tournament.
To see a description of what the role involves, click on the link - this will bring you to a page of descriptions.

Getting Involved

Like other judging activities such as science fairs, there is a set of criteria also called rubrics (2009 version) that are defined to help evaluate teams. Volunteering for FLL is a great way to get involved to help budding young scientists and engineers launch their careers, as well as to increase the supply of technical professionals that will be available to industry a few years from now. It’s also an easy and fun way to get involved in the community. Additionally, we love when companies step up to host an event, as that has an amazing impact not just on the youth but also on their parents and family.

Almost any adult can be a judge or referee. Among the common concerns or misconceptions:

I’m not qualified. For the project and teamwork judging, most any adult would be able to evaluate the teams in these areas. In addition, judges work in teams and we try to pair experienced judges with rookies. Additionally, any adult with a degree in science, engineering or math should be able to judge teams for robot design. Experience with robotics, software, mechanics or LEGO robots is not required, but is helpful for judging robot design.
It’s too hard to learn. As to judges, most tournaments already have a group of experienced judges to help newcomers learn - the FLL program is growing so fast that we always need more. We provide training materials as well as conference calls to answer questions. The referees' role is a bit more complicated - FLL has rules and missions and attention to detail during the fast paced nature of the game is important. There is good training available including both self-paced and conference calls. We recommend referees to try to attend one or more of the informal scrimmages that teams run (typically in October).
It’s too big a committment. Tournaments need just a few hours of training ahead of the day, plus the one-time appearance of about 8 hours. While we have a great group of "serial volunteers" and would love to see you again, organizers understand if you can’t make it to multiple events or even every year due to personal committments, travel or work deadlines.
It’s too far to go. Nearly all areas throughout Northern California have a nearby tournament (as does Fresno, Los Angeles and San Diego). Those who live in the major cities or nearby suburbs should be able to find an event no more than 20 miles away from their home or place of work.

Last Updated: 12/29/2009 12:13 PM