We are thrilled that the San Diego Regional will be held March 24-26 at UCSD’s LionTree Arena (formerly RIMAC Arena / Triton Arena).  We are hopeful that this will become our new home and want to make sure that we are respectful and courteous guests. We ask your team to please always practice your Gracious Professionalism. 

There are several ways to enter UCSD but for team robot load in, team/public entrance and parking it is recommended that you enter via the UCSD Northpoint Driveway off North Torrey Pines Rd. 

Team Member/Public Access: 

 Team members and public will access the LionTree Arena through the main entrance located off of Ridge Walk pathway, which is easily accessible from the Hopkins parking Structure (please see map) 

PITMAP

Team Robot/Pit load In: 

Active Load In Times –

• Thursday, 3/23, 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
• Friday, 3/24, 7:45 AM to 8:30 AM 

We are at a new event space this year. Load-in instructions have changed significantly. Please distribute these instructions to everyone that will be carrying items for your team’s load-in.  

Key points 

• Teams must queue in a remote area prior to being allowed into the arena loading area. 
• Teams will be turned away at the arena loading area if they did not check in with the volunteers at the queue area and received a load in pass.
• Drivers need to stay with their vehicles at all times through the load in process. 
  
• The arena loading area is very tight. Large trailers are discouraged. If you have questions, please contact David Berggren at dberggren@firstinspires.org.
• 5 people max for loading-in still enforced. With at least one of the 5 being an adult. 
• Drivers, with vehicles, are not counted as the 5 team members loading in 
• Load-in has been extended to 5pm – 8pm on Thursday night. 
• Follow the directions of volunteers completely. 

Load-in Procedure (subject to change and/or update)  

• Drive to the queue area located at Northpoint Lane parking  loop (lot P359) and check in with the volunteer there.
• HOURS:
  • On Thursday: Teams can arrive in the queue area 4:00pm – 7:45pm
  • On Friday: Teams can arrive in the queue area 7:15am – 8:15am
• Follow directions of volunteers who will direct you to line up around the inside of the loop road 
• Please stay tight as you can to the inside (left) curb, so vehicles can still get by
• Wait, with your vehicle, in the queue area until a volunteer informs you that you can leave
• Vehicles will need to move forward in the queue line as the line progresses
• Once at the front of the line and there is space, a volunteer will allow you to depart to the arena loading area by providing you a load in pass
• We will try to keep team vehicles together. They may be sent separately 
• Drive to Arena Loading Area at the arena (please see map)
• Check in with Volunteer upon arrival
• Follow volunteer directions for parking your vehicle for load in
• Unload vehicle
• Driver must stay with vehicle at all times
• Vehicles should be unloaded as quickly as possible
• Unload everything prior to moving anything into the venue
• Depart the load in area immediately after your vehicle is unloaded

Team Robot/Pit load Out: 

Key points 

• Load out will take place Sunday, 1:00 – 6:00pm
• Drivers need to stay with their vehicles at all times through the load out process. 
• Team’s load out vehicle/s must queue in the remote area prior to being allowed in the arena loading area
• Teams will be turned away at the arena loading area if they do not have a load out pass

Load-out Procedure (subject to change and/or update) - load-out process is different than load-in 

• Completely pack up pit and be ready to load out
• Check in with Pit Admin once your load out vehicle/s is ready to go and provide them with a cell phone number of the driver or drivers
• Once driver/s receive a text messaged Load Out Pass they can proceed to the arena loading area. There will be no queue area volunteer for load out.

From our Judge Advisor, Rick Segil: 

Interviews for Dean’s List and the FIRST Impact (formerly Chairman’s) Award both will be conducted in person at the venue this year. Teams and individuals can check at pit admin on (Friday after 4:00) to find their interview time slot. If teams or individuals need to reschedule to accommodate their match schedule, they should make arrangements to switch with another team individual as soon as possible after the schedule is announced. They will need to inform pit admin of any agreed upon switches. If a translator is needed for the interviews, please contact us as soon as you can so we can make accommodations. 

New This Year: We will be hosting an optional Impact and Dean’s List judging tour on Friday afternoon at 4pm.  This is an opportunity for teams who will be presenting to the judges for the FIRST Impact Award or students meeting with the judges as a Dean’s list nominee, to see where the judge rooms are, how they are set up and ask questions about logistics.  Meeting location and time will be shared out at the event. 

• Venue operated concessions will be available at the event Friday-Sunday
• Outside food is not allowed in the venue
• Any food can be eaten outside the venue
• If raining, we will work to allow eating in covered areas
• Please make sure your team cleans up after themselves
• Water will be allowed to be brought in during robot load in times on Thursday evening and Friday morning

Should your team need any special assistance and/or accommodations, please contact David Berggren at dberggren@firstinspires.org prior to the event. 

Safety First: 

Safety glasses are required to be worn at all times by anyone in the pit or competition area. Please make sure that you bring enough safety glasses for every member of your team (students and adults). Safety glasses will not be available to borrow this year.  It would also be smart for your team to bring extra safety glasses for and parents or visitors that may be attending with your team. 

Additionally, please remind your team members and any adults that may be coming with your team that closed toe shoes are required in the pits along with safety glasses. 

Pit Information 

Per fire code restrictions, all pits must be open at the top. Teams will be asked to remove any tents or other covering. If you are not planning to use the table provided in your pit area, please let us know in advance. We are not formally restricting numbers of people in the pit. However, we ask teams to use good judgment about numbers of team members and mentors in their pit at any given time. If event organizers feel the pit area is getting too crowded to allow for reasonable physical distancing, teams may be asked to have non-essential members leave the area. 

COVID Policy and Event Entry:

February 28, 2023 – The event will be open to the public this year, and we do not plan to have any COVID restrictions. Masks are absolutely welcome, and teams and spectators should feel perfectly comfortable choosing to wear them.

September 9, 2022 – We are continuing to monitor local public health conditions and are developing plans on how to best support FIRST events across all programs for the 2022 – 2023 Season. This includes the ability to implement modifications such as the use of masks, health screening, event scaling, social distancing, event formatting, and other precautions as determined by local conditions and regulations.

Providing opportunities for hands-on learning and recognizing our teams’ incredible accomplishments are key elements to the lasting impact of FIRST. We remain committed to deliver our programs to as many students as possible, as safely as possible.

This space will be updated with more details as the season progresses.

We thank you for your continued support for our mission as we navigate the season together!