NorCal FLL

Northern California FIRST LEGO League tournament cancellation policy

We are blessed here in Northern California that we don’t typically have severe weather so we have escaped having to cancel events previously…  However,in 2009, we have been asked by FIRST to determine and post an official tournament cancellation policy, particularly in light of the spread of the H1N1 flu virus. Then in 2014,  we were asked to add the adherence to FIRST event standards, particularly around YPP (Youth Protection Program) policies.

Obviously a decision to cancel any event is not undertaken lightly. The situations most likely to cause a cancellation of all or part of the tournament include (but are not limited to):

  • Severe weather conditions, such as snow, rain, wind and temperatures.
  • Exceptional circumstances including extended power outage, loss of heat, loss of water, fire, natural disaster such as earthquake and other exceptional conditions.
  • Significant illness that might involve the closing a facility prior to the event or an illness arising at an event.
    • Examples:  a severe or contagious illness that has caused the venue manager to close the facility or puts the completion of an event in jeopardy, or a severe illness that requires extraordinary action by medical personnel.
  • Significant number of teams have to cancel due to illness.
  • NEW in 2014, per FIRST requirements,  non-compliance with FIRST Event standards including most importantly Volunteer Screening per YPP Requirements.
    • We require that nearly 100% of the volunteers must be screened and assigned to event by no later than 2 weeks prior to event

For weather or site specific situations, the FLL Partner  (Playing At Learning) and the Tournament Director will determine if there will be a delay, early dismissal or cancellation of the tournament.   There also could be situations where the local venue manager (or equivalent function, like a school’s principal or a district superintendent) and/or relevant government agency cancels an event at their  site.

If a tournament has to be canceled before the tournament day begins, teams will be notified by an email sent to the norcalfll-announce googlegroup and the information will also be posted prominently as a Blog Post on the front page of the www.norcalfll.org site.     We can not guarantee that we will be able to send out an email individually to the listed coach of the team.

If a qualifier tournament has to be canceled for any reason at any point (even during the tournament day) prior to the advancement list being determined by the judge crew, all teams that were assigned to compete at that tournament will be entered into a lottery conducted by Playing At Learning, the FLL Affiliate partner.   Teams will be randomly selected to fill the number of advancing slots into the next level.  The teams that are selected to advance would be notified and this information posted on the norcalfll.org site and/or tournament website. Also,  the tournament will not be rescheduled or moved – there would not be time in the tournament calendar to do this.   We understand that in this situation, it can be incredibly demotivating to have the team’s hard work and efforts be at the luck of a lottery but we have not found any other equitable way to handle this very unfortunate situation.

If a qualifier tournament is cancelled for any reason,  we will refund $50 of the NorCal Region Support fee.  Unfortunately, none of the $100 tournament payment will be able to be refunded as the organizers will have already spent/committed the funds to run the event. If the Championship tournament is cancelled for any reason and not able to be rescheduled,  we will refund $50 of the fee.

Finally,  in consideration of and in order to protect our volunteers,  other teams and their families, please follow the CDC recommendations and stay at home if you are experiencing any flu-like symptoms.  Even with mild symptoms, you may be contagious.  At an event with so many people germs can be spread easily and quickly.  If we are all courteous and consider the health of each other, then we can enjoy a healthy FLL tournament season.   For more info about flu and CDC guidelines, please visit  http://www.cdc.gov/flu/