Kickoff is the official “season start” for FTC. On September 12th at 2pm PDT / 5pm EDT, the robot game and game element documents and official rules are released online.

It is not critical that the team do “something” exactly on September 12th but the team does need to read and understand the game rules and robot rules in order to be successful.

One other online “doc” section that is important for the team to be aware of and pay attention to throughout the season is the Q&A section about the game on the FIRST forum where the game designers will give official answers and clarifications.  This is where you can post questions and get official clarifications.

Over the last few years, we have held a get together open to the teams and coaches on or near the kickoff date where Playing At Learning (the Partner) goes over the game descriptions as well as clarify rules, answer questions and generally bring a great start to the new season.

2009 KICKOFF EVENT will be held at the TechShop in Menlo Park on Saturday, September 12th and will include workshops as well as a way for each team to get the game element(s).  More details on how to register and exact workshops, etc  will be posted here when they became available.