And so it begins...

     Finally!  The official reveal for this year’s FTC game, Rover Ruckus, was held on Saturday, September 8th.  In past years, the introduction to the new competition has always been one of the more anticipated and exciting highlights for our team, however, this year it was even more special.  Thanks to the generosity of our hosts, York Country Day School, Mr. Jim Rumbaugh, and other FIRST staff and volunteers, we were able to attend an exciting Kick-Off event, where we were privileged to have early screening of the new game.  Additionally, we were granted access to explore the current playing field and listened as veteran referees explained key competition elements and answered a variety of questions.
       The brainstorming of design and programming aspects has already begun.  We’re anxious to meet with the entire team and discuss our game and build strategies.  We feel as though attending the kick-off event as a huge advantage that we failed to experience in previous years.  In addition to gaining valuable information, it was fun to reconnect with our fellow FTC competitors. Listening to their questions and comments exposed us to different ideas and concepts that we may not have developed on our own.  We hope that our conversations may have contributed to their strategic design as well.
     In short, the 2018-2019 kick-off was a fun, rewarding, and educational experience that has excited to begin a new competitive season.  Time to get busy!