11 Tournaments

Each 2023 FIRST® Robotics Competition event is played in a tournament format. Each tournament consists of 3 types of

: Practice (not necessarily played at all District Events), Qualification , and Playoff .

Practice

provide each team with an opportunity to operate its on the prior to the start of the Qualification .

Qualification

allow each team to earn Ranking Points which determine their seeding position and may qualify them for participation in the Playoff .

Playoff

determine the event Champions.

11.1

MATCH

Schedules

A

schedule is used to coordinate at an Event. Figure 11‑1 details information shown on each schedule. are described in Section 11.6.2 Assignment.

11.2 Head

REFEREE

and

FTA

Interaction

The Head

has the ultimate authority in the during the event, but may receive input from additional sources, e.g. Game Designers, FIRST personnel, , and other event staff. The Head rulings are final. No event staff, including the Head , will review video, photos, artistic renderings, etc. of any , from any source, under any circumstances.

11.2.1 Question Box

Each

has a designated Question Box near the scoring table. If a has a question about a , the , etc., they may send 1 member to their corresponding Question Box. Depending on timing, the Head or may postpone any requested discussion until the end of the subsequent as necessary.

Technical questions regarding

or operation are addressed by the , additional team members are invited to participate in these conversations if necessary. If a needs clarification on a ruling or score, per H202, 1 from that should address the Head after the Reset Signal (e.g. lights turn green).

While

tracks quantities of , FIRST instructs to not self-track details about and ; as a result, we don’t expect to recall details about what and were made, when they occurred, and against whom.

11.2.2 YELLOW and

RED CARDS

In addition to rule violations explicitly listed throughout the 2023 Game Manual,

and are used in FIRST Robotics Competition to address team and behavior that does not align with the mission, values, and culture of FIRST.

As noted in Section 6.5 Rule Violations and H201, the Head

may assign a as a warning, or a for DISQUALIFICATION in for egregious behavior inappropriate at a FIRST Robotics Competition event.

A YELLOW or

is indicated by the Head holding a YELLOW and/or in the air while the Game Announcer describes the violation.

Per Section 6.5 Rule Violations

are additive, meaning that a second is automatically converted to a . A team is issued a for any subsequent incident in which they receive an additional , including earning a second during a single . A second is indicated by the Head holding a and in the air simultaneously after the completion of the . A team that has received either a or a carries a into subsequent , except as noted below.

Once a team receives a YELLOW or

, its team number is presented with a yellow background on the audience screen at the beginning of all subsequent , including any replays, as a reminder to the team, the , and the audience that they carry a .

All

are cleared in at the conclusion of Practice, Qualification, and division Playoff . Verbal warnings are cleared after Practice and persist from Qualification through subsequent tournament phases. The Head may opt to perpetuate a verbal warning or earned during Practice through to Qualification for particularly egregious behavior.

11.2.3 YELLOW and

RED CARD

application

YELLOW and

are applied based on the following:

Time YELLOW or RED CARDS earned:	MATCH to which CARD is applied:
prior to Practice MATCHES	Team’s first Practice MATCH
during the Practice MATCHES	Team’s current (or just-completed) MATCH .
between the end of PRACTICE MATCHES and the start of Qualification MATCHES	Team’s first Qualification MATCH
during the Qualification MATCHES	Team’s current (or just-completed) MATCH . In the case where the team participated as a SURROGATE in the current (or just completed) MATCH , the card is applied to the team’s previous MATCH (i.e. the team’s second Qualification MATCH )
between the end of Qualification MATCHES and the start of Playoff MATCHES	ALLIANCE ’S first Playoff MATCH
during the Playoff MATCHES	ALLIANCE ’S current (or just-completed) MATCH

11.2.4 YELLOW and

RED CARDS

during Playoff

MATCHES

During Playoff

, YELLOW and are assigned to the violating team’s entire instead of to only the violating team. If an receives 2 , the entire is issued a which results in DISQUALIFICATION for the associated . If both receive a , the assessed the first , chronologically, is and loses the .

11.3

MATCH

Replays

Over the course of the tournament, it may be necessary for a

to be replayed. Typical causes for replays are that end in a tie during the Playoffs, that are stopped because anticipated damage or personal injury, or if there is an . An is an error in operation that includes, but is not limited to:

• A. broken
  FIELD
  elements due to
• a. normal, expected game play or
• b.
  ROBOT
  abuse of
  FIELD
  elements that affects the outcome of the
  MATCH
  for their opponents,

• B. power failure to a portion of the
  FIELD
  (tripping the circuit breaker in the
  DRIVER STATION
  is not considered a power failure),
• C. improper activation by the
  FMS
  , and
• D. errors by
  FIELD STAFF
  (except those listed in Other Logistics).

If, in the judgment of the Head

, an occurs that affects the outcome of the and any team on the affected desires a replay, the will be replayed. FIRST Headquarters reserves the right to, with consultation of the Head and the , replay a in which an impacts the outcome of an event.

11.4 Measurement

At each event, the

will be open for at least 30 minutes prior to the start of Qualification , during which time teams may survey and/or measure the and bring on the to perform sensor calibration. The specific time that the is open will be communicated to teams at the event. Teams may bring specific questions or comments to the .

11.5 Practice

MATCHES

Practice

are played before Qualification . The Practice schedule is available as soon as possible, but no later than the start of Practice . For Regional events, it will also be published and available online at the FIRST Robotics Event Results site, except during exceptional circumstances. Practice are randomly assigned, and teams may not switch scheduled Practice . Each team is assigned an equal number of Practice unless the number of teams multiplied by number of Practice is not divisible by 6. In this case, the randomly selects some teams to play an extra Practice .

Practice

are not guaranteed at District Events due to event schedule constraints.

11.5.1 Filler Line

A Filler Line is used to fill open slots at events that employ scheduled Practice

or all slots at events with an open Practice schedule. Teams from the Filler Line are used on a first come, first served basis to fill empty spots in Practice left by other teams that do not report to Queueing. The number of teams in the Filler Line is dependent upon space at venues.

Only teams that meet all criteria below qualify for the Filler Line:

• A.
  ROBOTS
  in the Filler Line must have passed inspection (this requirement may be waived for events with open Practice
  MATCH
  schedules),
• B.
  DRIVE TEAMS
  must join the Filler Line with their
  ROBOT
  ,
• C. teams may not work on their
  ROBOT
  while in the Filler Line,
• D. teams may not occupy more than 1 spot in the Filler Line, and
• E. if a team is queued for their Practice
  MATCH
  , they may not also join the Filler Line.

11.6 Qualification

MATCHES

11.6.1 Schedule

The Qualification

schedule is made available as soon as possible, but no later than 30 minutes before Qualification are scheduled to begin. Teams receive 1 hard copy and it is also available at the FIRST Robotics Competition Event Results site, except during exceptional circumstances. Each Qualification schedule consists of a series of rounds in which each team plays 1 per round.

11.6.2

MATCH

Assignment

assigns each team 2 partners for each Qualification using a predefined algorithm, and teams may not switch Qualification assignments. The algorithm employs the following criteria, listed in order of priority:

1. maximize time between each
   MATCH
   played for all teams
2. minimize the number of times a team is allied with any team
3. minimize the number of times a team plays opposite any team
4. minimize the use of
   SURROGATES
   (teams randomly assigned by the
   FMS
   to play an extra Qualification
   MATCH
   )
5. provide even distribution of
   MATCHES
   played on blue and red
   ALLIANCE
6. provide even distribution of
   MATCHES
   played in each
   DRIVER STATION
   number

At events with fewer than 24 participating teams, the criteria are similar, however criterion 5 is changed to minimize the number of times a team swaps between the blue and red

rather than an even distribution.

All teams are assigned the same number of Qualification

, equal to the number of rounds, unless the number of teams multiplied by number of is not divisible by 6. In this case, the randomly selects some teams to play an extra . For the purpose of seeding calculations, those teams are designated as for the extra . If a team plays a as a , it is indicated on the schedule, it is always their third Qualification , and the outcome of the has no effect on the team’s ranking. YELLOW and assigned to , however, do carry forward to subsequent .

11.6.3 Qualification Ranking

Ranking Points are units credited to a team based on their

’S performance in Qualification . Ranking Points are awarded to each eligible team at the completion of each Qualification per Table 6‑2.

Exceptions to Ranking Point assignment are as follows:

• A. A
  SURROGATE
  receives 0 Ranking Points.
• B. A
  DISQUALIFIED
  team, as determined by the Head
  REFEREE
  , receives 0 Ranking Points in a Qualification
  MATCH
  or causes their
  ALLIANCE
  to receive 0
  MATCH
  points in a Playoff
  MATCH
  .
• C. A “no-show” team is either
  DISQUALIFIED
  from or issued a
  RED CARD
  for that
  MATCH
  (see H305). A team is declared a no-show if no member of the
  DRIVE TEAM
  is in the
  ALLIANCE AREA
  at the start of the
  MATCH
  .

The total number of Ranking Points earned by a team throughout their Qualification

divided by the number of they’ve been scheduled to play (minus any ), then truncated to 2 decimal places, is their Ranking Score ().

All teams participating in Qualification

are ranked by Ranking Score. If the number of teams in attendance is ‘n’, they are ranked ‘1’ through ‘n’, with ‘1’ being the team with the highest Ranking Score and ‘n’ being the team with the lowest Ranking Score.

Teams are ranked in order, using the sorting criteria defined in Table 11‑2.

Order Sort	Criteria
1st	Ranking Score
2nd	Average Alliance MATCH points, not including FOULS
3rd	Average ALLIANCE CHARGE STATION points
4th	Average ALLIANCE AUTO points
5th	Random sorting by the FMS

11.7 Playoff

MATCHES

Playoff

follow the qualification . In the Playoffs, teams play on set , chosen during selection, and advance through a double elimination bracket. Teams do not earn Ranking Points; they advance based on winning, losing, or tying a .

11.7.1

ALLIANCE

Selection Process

At the end of the Qualification

, the top 8 ranked teams become the Leads. The ranked are designated, in order, 1, 2, etc., down to 8. Using the selection process described in this section, each Lead chooses 2 other teams to join their .

The

selection process consists of 2 rounds during which each invites a team ranked below them in the standings to join their .

Round 1: In descending order (

1 to 8), each invites a single team to join their . The invited team’s representative steps forward and either accepts or declines the invitation.

If the team accepts, it becomes a member of that

. If an invitation from a top 8 to another Lead is accepted, all lower Leads are promoted 1 spot. The highest-ranked, unselected team becomes the 8 Lead.

Round 2: The same method is used for each

’S second choice except the selection order is reversed, with 8 picking first and 1 picking last. This process results in 8 of 3 teams.

At the conclusion of

selection, the highest ranked unselected teams are eligible to become a , as defined in Section 11.7.3 .

11.7.2 Playoff

MATCH

Bracket

The double elimination tournament consists of an Upper and Lower bracket as shown in Figure 11‑3. Each

begins with a slot in the Upper bracket. If an wins a in the Upper bracket, they remain in the Upper bracket. If an loses a in the Upper bracket, they transition to the Lower bracket. in the Lower bracket must win any subsequent (except for finals) to remain in the tournament, i.e. once they lose a , they’re out of the tournament.

In Round 1, the higher ranked

is assigned to the red . For subsequent rounds, color is assigned as shown in Figure 11‑3, regardless of rank at the start of the Playoff tournament.

As shown in Figure 11‑3 and Table 11‑3, Playoff

consist of 6 rounds with breaks between rounds and between the Finals . Breaks begin after the has been cleared from the previous . The Blue and Red Gap columns indicate the approximate time between each ’S . The expected start time of the scheduled is the time indicated on the schedule or 15 minutes from the end of either ’S previous , whichever is later.

If a Playoff

needs to be replayed as described in Section 11.3 Replays, teams are notified of when the replay will occur. A minimum 10-minute delay is provided for teams to reset their prior to the replay unless all teams are ready sooner. The affected must be replayed before the next round begins.

MATCH	Blue	Red	Blue Gap (minutes)	Red Gap (minutes)	Winner moves to	Loser moves to
Upper Bracket – Round 1 – MATCH 1	ALLIANCE 8	ALLIANCE 1			Red – MATCH 7	Red – MATCH 5
Upper Bracket – Round 1 – MATCH 2	ALLIANCE 5	ALLIANCE 4			Blue – MATCH 7	Blue – MATCH 5
Upper Bracket – Round 1 – MATCH 3	ALLIANCE 7	ALLIANCE 2			Red – MATCH 8	Red – MATCH 6
Upper Bracket – Round 1 – MATCH 4	ALLIANCE 6	ALLIANCE 3			Blue – MATCH 8	Blue – MATCH 6
8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break
Lower Bracket – Round 2 – MATCH 5	Loser of MATCH 2	Loser of MATCH 1	24m	31m	Blue – MATCH 10
Lower Bracket – Round 2 - MATCH 6	Loser of MATCH 4	Loser of MATCH 3	17m	24m	Blue – MATCH 9
Upper Bracket – Round 2 - MATCH 7	Winner of MATCH 2	Winner of MATCH 1	38m	45m	Red – MATCH 11	Red – MATCH 9
Upper Bracket – Round 2 - MATCH 8	Winner of MATCH 4	Winner of MATCH 3	31m	38m	Blue – MATCH 11	Red – MATCH 10
8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break
Lower Bracket – Round 3 - MATCH 9	Winner of MATCH 6	Loser of MATCH 7	24m	17m	Blue – MATCH 12
Lower Bracket – Round 3 - MATCH 10	Winner of MATCH 5	Loser of MATCH 8	38m	17m	Red – MATCH 12
8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break	8-minute Break
Upper Bracket – Round 4 - MATCH 11	Winner of MATCH 8	Winner of MATCH 7	30m	37m	Red – Match 14	Red – MATCH 13
Lower Bracket – Round 4 - MATCH 12	Winner of MATCH 9	Winner of MATCH 10	24m	17m	Blue – MATCH 13
15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break
Lower Bracket – Round 5 - MATCH 13	Winner of MATCH 12	Loser of MATCH 11	17m	24m	Blue – MATCH 14
15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break
Finals – Match 14	Winner of MATCH 13	Winner of MATCH 11	17m	44m	MATCH 15	MATCH 15
15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break	15-minute Awards Break
Finals – Match 15	Winner of MATCH 13	Winner of MATCH 11	17m	17m	MATCH 16*	MATCH 16*
15-minute Awards Break *	15-minute Awards Break *	15-minute Awards Break *	15-minute Awards Break *	15-minute Awards Break *	15-minute Awards Break *	15-minute Awards Break *
Finals – Match 16 *	Winner of MATCH 13	Winner of MATCH 11	17m	17m

• if required

11.7.2.1 Playoff

MATCH

ties

If final

scores for both are equal, the win is awarded to the per criteria listed in Table 11‑4.

Order Sort	Criteria
1st	Cumulative TECH FOUL points due to opponent rule violations
2nd	ALLIANCE CHARGE STATION points
3rd	ALLIANCE AUTO points
4th	MATCH is replayed

11.7.2.2 Playoff Finals

Once a single

remains in each Upper and Lower bracket, those proceed to the Finals round. The first to win 2 in the Finals becomes the event’s Champions.

If a Finals

ends in a tie score, the tie is not broken using the criteria in Table 11‑4, the remains a tie. In the case where an hasn’t won 2 after 3 have been played (because of tied ), the Playoffs proceed with up to 3 additional Finals , called Overtime , until an has won 2 Finals . In the case where the Overtime scores for both are equal, the win for that Overtime is awarded based on the criteria listed in Table 11‑4.

11.7.3

BACKUP TEAMS

During the Playoff

an may elect to replace one of its due to a mechanical or software issue that prevents that from competing effectively. The team whose and replaces another and on an during the Playoff is called the .

In this situation, the

has the option to bring in the highest ranked team from the pool of available teams to join its for the following . The resulting is then composed of 4 teams.

11.7.3.1

BACKUP TEAM

Coupons

Each

is allotted 1 coupon during the Playoff . If a second from the becomes inoperable, then the must play the following with only 2 (or even 1) .

The Head

will not accept the coupon unless it lists the number of the team whose is being replaced and is initialed by the . Once a coupon is submitted and accepted by the Head , the coupon may not be withdrawn by the .

11.7.3.2

BACKUP POOL

After the top ranked

has made their final pick during Selection, poll the remaining eligible teams. In rank order, invite remaining teams to accept or decline a position in the , i.e. the group of teams willing and able to join an during the Playoff , if needed, until up to 8 teams accept.

These 2 representatives are available to answer questions and accept invitations to be a

from . If 1 of these 2 teams joins an or excuses themselves from the , the next highest ranked team in the must provide their representative. Once a has declined an invitation to join an , it is no longer a member of the and ineligible to join another .

11.7.4

LINEUPS

Each

competing in a Playoff has the option to submit a , which lists the 3 teams participating in the and their selected .

The

is kept confidential until the is set for the at which point each ’S appears on the Team Signs.

11.7.4.1

LINEUPS

for 4-team

ALLIANCES

If an

has 4 members (either because a 3-team has called a or the event is the FIRST Championship), a single representative from the team not on the is allowed as a sixteenth member but must be a member of that team’s . This additional representative may only serve as a .

11.7.4.2 Default

LINEUP

11.7.5 Pit Crews

During the Playoff

and because of the distance between the and the pit area, extra team members may be needed to maintain the between . Each team is permitted to have up to 3 additional pit crew members to help with needed repairs/maintenance.

11.7.6 Small Event Exceptions

The scheduling algorithm described in Section 11.6.2

Assignment works to minimize teams playing in back-to-back . However, at events with fewer than 24 teams, back-to-back plays may occur.

Multi-day events with 24 teams or fewer employ a modified Playoff

format. Instead of 8 , these events proceed through SELECTION and the Playoff Tournament with the maximum number of complete 3-team that can be formed while leaving at least 1 (e.g. a 24-team event creates 7 , a 20-team event creates 6 ).

The Playoff Bracket remains as shown in Figure 11‑3, with any matchup against a non-existent

resulting in a bye (i.e. automatic advancement to the next round). An assigned a bye-MATCH is invited, though not required, to practice together in a null (i.e. it has no bearing on the Playoff tournament) during the designated time in the Playoff schedule.

District points for Draft Order Acceptance (per Section 11.8.1.2

Selection Results) are awarded as if a full set of was selected (i.e. the second selection of the 3-seed still receive 3 points regardless of how many are formed).

11.8 Advancement Through the District Model

Teams advance through the season depending on the events at which they compete: Regional or District. This section details how District teams advance from District qualifying events, to their District Championship.

11.8.1 District Events

District teams are ranked throughout the season based on the points they earn at their first 2 home District events they attend, as well as at their District Championship. Points are awarded to teams as follows:

Category	Points
Qualification Round Performance	(For a typically sized District event, this will result in a minimum of 4 points being awarded for Qualification round performance. For events of all sizes, a maximum of 22 points will be awarded.)
ALLIANCE CAPTAINS	Equal to 17 minus the ALLIANCE CAPTAIN number (e.g. 14 points for ALLIANCE #3 Captain)
Draft Order Acceptance	Equal to 17 minus the Draft Order Acceptance Number (e.g. 12 points for the team that is fifth to accept an invitation)
Playoff Advancement	Points awarded based on team participation in individual playoff rounds, and whether or not the ALLIANCE advances. See Section 11.8.1.3 Playoff Performance for details.
Judged Team Awards	10 points for FIRST Impact Award (formerly the Chairman’s Award) 8 points each for Engineering Inspiration and Rookie All Star Awards 5 points each for all other judged team awards
Team Age	10 points for 2023 rookie teams 5 points for 2021 and 2022 rookie teams

Points earned at District Championships are multiplied by 3 and then added to points earned at District events, to determine the final season point total for the team.

If there is a tie in the season point total between teams, those items are broken using the following sorting criteria:

Order Sort	Criteria
1st	Total Playoff Performance Points
2nd	Best Playoff Round Finish at a single event
3rd	Total ALLIANCE Selection Results Points
4th	Highest Qualification Round Seed or Draft Order Acceptance (i.e. Highest ALLIANCE Selection points at a single event)
5th	Total Qualification Round Performance Points
6th	Highest Individual MATCH Score, regardless of whether that score occurred in a Qualification or Playoff MATCH
7th	Second highest Individual MATCH Score, regardless of whether that score occurred in a Qualification or Playoff MATCH
8th	Third highest Individual MATCH Score, regardless of whether that score occurred in a Qualification or Playoff MATCH
9th	Random Selection

11.8.1.1 Qualification Round Performance

The calculation of Qualification performance points is done using the equation (an inverse error function) in Table 11‑5. The equation utilizes the following variables:

• R
  – the qualification rank of the team at the event at the conclusion of Qualification
  MATCHES
  (as reported by
  FMS
  )
• N – the number of FIRST Robotics Competition teams participating in the Qualification rounds at the event
• Alpha (α) – a static value (1.07) used to standardize the distribution of points at events

This formula generates an approximately normal distribution of Qualification Round Performance points at an event, based on rank, with most teams getting a moderate number of points, and fewer teams getting the highest or lowest numbers of points available.

Table 11‑7 displays sample Qualification Round Performance points for variously ranked teams at a 40-team event. The system will automatically generate the appropriate points for each team based on their rank and the number of teams at the event.

Rank	1	2	3	4	…	19	20	21	…	37	38	39	40
Points	22	21	20	19	…	13	13	12	…	6	6	5	4

11.8.1.2

ALLIANCE

Selection Results

This attribute measures both individual team qualification round seeding performance and recognition by peers.

are recognized based on their qualification round seeding rank. This rank is a result of the rules of the game, which typically incorporate several team performance attributes, and are designed to eliminate ties in rank. Non-ALLIANCE CAPTAINS are rewarded based on peer recognition. To be invited to join an , a team’s peers have decided that the team has attributes that are desirable. Giving points for selection also supports come-from-behind teams. A team taking several to optimize their performance may be recognized as a late bloomer by a top seeded team, even if that performance isn’t reflected in the rankings because of poor performance in early . These points also have the potential to recognize teams employing a minority strategy with their . Teams with unique or divergent capabilities that complement the strengths of other members may be selected to fill a strategic niche.

Note also that

are given the same number of points as the team drafted in the same sequence. For example, the third gets the same number of points as the third draft. Numerical analysis supports the idea that are about as strong in performance as equivalently drafted teams. As an additional minor benefit, awarding the same points for and equivalent drafts lubricates the acceptance of draft offers between , which gives teams out of the top 8 the chance to experience being themselves.

11.8.1.3 Playoff Performance

This attribute measures team performance as part of an

.

Teams earn points based on how far their

advances in the Playoff and the percentage of wins in which the team participated. The Advancement points are shown in Table 11‑8.

ALLIANCE Finish	ALLIANCE Advancement Points
Winner	30
Finalist	20
3rd Place (loser of MATCH 13)	13
4th Place (loser of MATCH 12)	7

In most cases, unless a BACKUP is recruited, a team plays in 100% of the Playoff

won by their , thus their Playoff Performance points simply equals their Advancement points. If a team does not play 100% of the Playoff won by their , their Playoff Performance points equals their Advancement points multiplied by the percentage of Playoff won by their in which that team was a participant. For example, if Team X’s wins the event, but Team X only played in 4 of the 5 Playoff won by their , Team X’s Playoff Performance points are 30*(4/5) = 24 points. If the result is not a whole number, the value is rounded up to the nearest integer.

11.8.1.4 Awards

This attribute measures team performance with respect to team awards judged at the event.

The points earned for team awards in this system are not intended to capture the full value of the award to the team winning the award, or to represent the full value of the award to FIRST. In many ways, the team’s experience in being selected for awards, especially the FIRST Impact Award, the Engineering Inspiration Award, and the Rookie All Star Award (which is optional for District Championship events), is beyond measure, and could not be fully captured in its entirety by any points-based system. Points are being assigned to awards in this system only to help teams recognize that FIRST continues to be “More than RobotsSM,” with the emphasis on our cultural awards, and to assist in elevating award-winning teams above non-award-winning teams in the ranking system.

Teams only get points for team awards judged at the event. If an award is not judged (e.g. Rookie Highest Seed), is not for a team (e.g. the Dean’s List Award) or is not judged at the event (e.g. Safety Animation Award, sponsored by UL), no points are earned.

11.8.1.5 Team Age

This attribute recognizes the difficulty in being a rookie or relatively new team.

Points are awarded to 2021, 2022, and 2023 rookie teams in recognition of the unique challenges teams face in those early years, and to increase the chance that they will make it to the District Championship to compete with their

. Like our dedicated Rookie awards, these additional points are intended to recognize and motivate newer participants in FIRST Robotics Competition. These points are awarded once at the beginning of the season. Rookie year is calculated based on the year in which FIRST recognizes the team as a rookie.

11.8.1.6 Regional Participation

District teams neither earn points for their actions at any Regionals, nor are eligible for any FIRST Championship qualifying benefits at that Regional (awards, Wild Cards, etc.). If a District team is on the winning

, a Wild Card is awarded to the next qualifying team. If they are on the finalist and would be awarded a Wild Card, they are skipped.

11.8.2 District Championship Eligibility

A team competing in a District qualifies for their District Championship by meeting 1 of the following criteria:

• A. District FIRST Impact Award Winner,
• B. District Ranking (based on total points earned at their first 2 home District events as detailed in Section 11.8.1 District Events),

• C. District Engineering Inspiration winner (qualifies to compete for the award only), and
• D. District Rookie All Star winner (qualifies to compete for the award only).

The capacity of each District Championship is shown in Table 11‑9. Each District determines the number of teams that qualify for their District Championship. These limits are based on factors including but not limited to the total number of teams in the District, available venue capacity, etc.

District Championship	Capacity	Divisions
FIRST Chesapeake District Championship	60	1
FIRST Israel District Championship	40	1
FIRST Mid-Atlantic District Championship	60	1
FIRST North Carolina State Championship	40	1
FIRST Ontario Provincial Championship	80	2
FIRST in Texas District Championship	80	2
Indiana State Championship	32	1
Michigan State Championship	160	4
New England District Championship	90	2
Pacific Northwest District Championship	50	1
Peachtree District State Championship	50	1

11.8.3 District Championships with Multiple Divisions

If a District Championship has too many teams to allow all teams 12 Qualification

, then the event hosts multiple divisions. These events have 2 or 4 divisions (based on the number of teams participating, see Table 11‑9) with approximately 40–60 teams in each division. Teams are assigned divisions by FIRST using a process developed by FIRST in Michigan.

The process employs a “brute force iterative randomizer” and is executed as follows:

1. The district team list is sorted in order of cumulative district points earned as described in Section 11.8.1 District Events.
2. The list is divided into quartiles based on rank (e.g. the first quartile has the top 25% ranked teams).
3. Division assignments are randomly generated using equal contribution from each quartile.
4. 3 criteria are calculated for each division:

a. average strength: the arithmetic mean of the district point values of teams in a division

b. distribution of strength: the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) of the district point values of teams in a division. SNR is calculated as follows:

σ = standard deviation of the district points in a division

c. distribution of strength for “top” teams: The SNR of the district point values of teams in the first quartile of a division

5. The 3 criteria for each division are compared to the other division(s). If the difference between the division’s value and any other division’s value exceeds the limits in Table 11‑10, the criteria is not met.

	2 divisions	4 divisions
Average strength	1	2
Distribution of strength	1	2.5
Distribution of strength for “top” teams	1.5	2

6. If all 3 criteria met, event organizers publish the assignments. If any of the 3 criteria are not met, assignments are rejected, and the process returns to Step 3.

11.8.3.1 District Championship Playoffs

In these cases:

• Division winning
  ALLIANCES
  play each other in District Championship Playoffs, employing the brackets shown in Figure 11‑4 and Figure 11‑5 (and detailed in Table 11‑11) that corresponds to their District, until a winning
  ALLIANCE
  for the event is determined.

MATCH	Blue	Red	Blue Gap (minutes)	Red Gap (minutes)	Winner moves to	Loser moves to
Upper Bracket – Round 1 – MATCH 1	B	A	-	-	Red – MATCH 3	Red – MATCH 4
Upper Bracket – Round 1 – MATCH 2	D	C	-	-	Blue – MATCH 3	Blue – MATCH 4
15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break
Upper Bracket – Round 2 – MATCH 3	W2	W1	17m	24m	Red – MATCH 6	Red – MATCH 5
Lower Bracket – Round 2 – MATCH 4	L2	L1	24m	31m	Blue – MATCH 5
15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break
Lower Bracket – Round 3 – MATCH 5	W4	L3	17m	24m	6
15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break
Finals - MATCH 6	W5	W3	17m	44m
15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break
Finals - MATCH 7	W5	W3	17m	17m
15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break	15-minute Break
Finals - MATCH 8*	W5	W3	17m	17m

• if required

• Each team on a Champion
  ALLIANCE
  of a 2-Division District Championship Playoff tournament earns 10 points.
• For a 4-Division District Championship Playoff tournament, each team on a Champion
  ALLIANCE
  earns 20 points and each team on a Finalist
  ALLIANCE
  receives 10 points.
• If any of these
  alliances
  has recruited a
  BACKUP TEAM
  , these points are divided amongst the teams as described in Section 11.8.1.3 Playoff Performance.
• If an
  ALLIANCE
  in a District Championship Playoff has not yet recruited a
  BACKUP TEAM
  per Section 11.7.3
  BACKUP TEAMS
  , the
  ALLIANCE CAPTAIN
  may bring in only the highest ranked team from their division’s
  BACKUP POOL
  to join its
  ALLIANCE
  .

11.9 FIRST Championship: Additions and Exceptions

At the 2023 FIRST Championship, teams are split into 8 divisions. The process used to assign teams to their division is as follows:

1. Rookies are assigned randomly, team by team, sequentially to divisions (i.e. a team in Division 1, a team in Division 2, a team in Division 3, a team in Division 4, a team in Division 5, a team in Division 6, a team in Division 7, a team in Division 8, then back to Division 1 again, until Rookies are all assigned to a division).
2. Step 1 is
   repeated
   with veteran teams.

Each division plays a standard tournament as described in Section 11.6 Qualification

and Section 11.7 Playoff to produce the division Champions. Those 8 division Champions proceed to the Championship Playoffs, on the Einstein , to determine the 2023 FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Winners, per Section 11.9.4 FIRST Championship Playoffs.

11.9.1 Advancement to the FIRST Championship

Details on how teams earn eligibility to attend the FIRST Championship are posted on the FIRST Championship eligibility webpage.

11.9.2 4

ROBOT

ALLIANCES

There is no provision for

at the FIRST Championship.

Instead, before each division Playoff Tournament,

are selected per the process as described in Section 11.7.1 Selection Process, however the process continues with a third round of selection as follows.

Round 3: The same method is used for each

’S third choice except the selection order is reversed again, with 1 picking first and 8 picking last. This process results in 8 of 4 teams each.

may start with any 3 of the 4 on their during division Playoff and during the Championship Playoffs. submit for their as described in Section 11.7.4 .

11.9.3 FIRST Championship Pit Crews

FIRST distributes buttons to the

during the meeting, which takes place on the division . These buttons provide the necessary access to the for pit crew members.

11.9.4 FIRST Championship Playoffs

The 8 division Champions play a Double Elimination style tournament as described in Section 11.7 Playoff

to determine the 2023 FIRST Robotics Competition Champions. Exact timing is provided to FIRST Championship Playoff teams. are paired as shown in Figure 11‑6.

During the Einstein Finals, if the

score of each is equal, the is replayed. In this circumstance, the may be changed.