Volunteer
Information
Welcome, current or prospective volunteers!
The UNH planning committee is delighted to host teams from all across New England to the Whittemore Center Arena here in beautiful Durham, NH! Home to extensive granite formations, the White Mountains, and the birthplace of FIRST Robotics, New Hampshire is a wonderful setting to showcase the tenets of the FIRST program! As a FIRST volunteer, you have been given a unique opportunity to take the lead in demonstrating the core values and ethos of the FIRST Robotics Competition program. We appreciate your commitment to discovery, innovation, impact, inclusion, teamwork, and fun, and our committee has been working hard to bring you a safe and delightful weekend of intense robot competition!
You will find lots of volunteer information specific to the event on this page. Please use it as a reference.
Thank you for volunteering your time and skills to our event!
registered Volunteer Information
Thank you for joining us for the UNH District Event!
Parking
A map of available parking for the event can be found below. Parking will be tight, so please carpool when possible. Please park in the designated volunteer parking lot, which is Lot D (also known as the Alumni Lot). If D is full, overflow can go to Lot A (Team Parking Lot). See map below for designations. If these areas are full, please be sure to only park in legal spots.
Note: To park at the venue, a Parking Pass will need to be printed and displayed on your dashboard. Your Volunteer Coordinator should have sent it to you. If you have not received it, please reach out ASAP!
Venue Layout
Venue-Specific Rules:
- People are asked to stay within the designated open areas in the building and not venture into curtained- or roped-off areas.
- No outside food or drink, other than water, will be allowed in the Whittemore Arena.
- Please do not order food to be delivered at the Arena.
Food, Attire & Belongings
Volunteers will be provided with free food and snacks in the volunteer lounge throughout the entirety of the event.
Food Rules & Reminders:
- Breakfast and Lunch will be provided in the Volunteer Lounge
- Meals are for the volunteers only on the day they are volunteering
- Breakfast starts at 7:00AM
- Lunch will be available starting at 12:00PM, though a Volunteer coordinator or the lead for your area will notify you when you should head to lunch as backfilling your position may be required
- Dinner will be provided on Thursday and Friday for the following volunteers who will be staying late: Robot Inspectors, Practice Field Support, Quiet Room Support, Safety Advisors, Pit Administration Support, Safety Glasses Volunteers, Field Assembly & Field
Volunteers.
On-Site Concessions:
Although purchasing your own food is not necessary, on-site concessions will be offered throughout the weekend. Please do not order food to be delivered at the arena. Concessions from local restaurants will be available for purchase at the event throughout the day.
Attire:
–You will receive a volunteer t-shirt for you to wear when you get to the event
–Dress comfortably and appropriately
–Wear comfortable shoes since most positions will require you to be on your feet
–Bring safety glasses if you have them.
Belongings:
Personal items can be stored in the volunteer lounge during the event. This room is not always monitored throughout the day, so please do not bring valuables in with you.
Safety Information
In the case of an emergency, please notify safety personnel, personnel at the Pit Admin table/the Scorekeeping table, your lead volunteer, and/or event coordinators.
All physical injuries/illnesses, however slight, taking place at a FIRST® official event must be reported to FIRST Headquarters. Click here to go to the the FIRST® Portal for Incident Reporting.
As always, regular safety event rules (e.g. no running in the pits, wearing safety glasses/closed-toe & closed-back shoes, and handling batteries with care) apply at this event. For more general event and safety rules, see FIRST General Rules.
Local Urgent Care, Hospitals, & Pharmacies:
URGENT CARE:
UNH Health & Wellness
4 Pettee Brook Lane, Durham, NH 03824
(603) 862-9355
*Open Thursday 8 AM–4:30 PM, Friday 9 AM–4:30 PM, CLOSED Saturday
Dover Emergency Room
10 Central Ave, Dover, NH 03820
(603) 740-1500
*Open 24 Hours
CLOSEST HOSPITALS:
Wentworth-Douglass Hospital
789 Central Ave, Dover, NH 03820
(603) 742-5252
*Main hospital building CLOSED Saturday
*Emergency Room Open 24 Hours
Portsmouth Hospital
333 Borthwick Ave, Portsmouth, NH 03801
(603) 436-5110
*Open 24 Hours
RITE AID & WALGREENS:
Rite Aid
5 Mill Rd G, Durham, NH 03824
(603) 868-5221
*Store open 8AM - 9PM
*Pharmacy open Thursday/Friday 8AM - 8PM, Saturday 9AM - 5PM (30 minute break, 1:30PM - 2PM)
Walgreens Pharmacy
91 Calef Hwy, Lee, NH 03861
(603) 868-1783
*Pharmacy open Thursday/Friday 9AM - 7PM, Saturday 9AM - 5PM (30 minute break, 1:30PM - 2PM)
Forms/YPP
Acknowledgement Forms:
Please make sure that you have completed all required acknowledgement forms prior to attending the event!
From your Dashboard at www.firstinspires.org, select your name in the upper right and
select ‘Acknowledgement Forms’ to review any incomplete forms.
FIRST Youth Protection:
Safety is at the forefront of FIRST® participation.
The FIRST Youth Protection Program (linked here) provides all participants in FIRST programs with
information, guidelines, and procedures to create a safe environment for our student participants.
The information below contains key components of the FIRST Youth Protection Program that all adults
and youth should be aware of while participating in FIRST programs.
FIRST® Portal for Incident Reporting (Youth Protection Concerns, Medical Incidents, or Other)
FIRST has a zero-tolerance policy regarding retaliation against anyone who reports a concern or who cooperates in an investigation of a reported concern. All submissions to the Reporting Portal are investigated by FIRST with appropriate action taken based on the findings.
Event Volunteer Training
The FIRST Youth Protection page (linked here) provides a number of resources that volunteers should be familiar with before working with youth in our programs. The FIRST Youth Protection Program guide(download here) contains the policies and guidelines that all volunteers and youth participants must adhere to when participating with FIRST. The Youth Protection page also has a link to Youth Protection Training Videos (linked here). This training is intended to enable adults working with FIRST teams to recognize situations that may pose a threat to team member safety and take the actions necessary to prevent and report injuries. We encourage anyone participating with FIRST to take this training to better understand how to protect themselves and our youth participants. The training consists of a series of short videos; each video is no more than 5 minutes, and the entire series can be completed in 40-50 minutes.
Volunteer Screening
All adult event volunteers are required to pass Youth Protection screening.
If you have questions, would like more information, or would like to speak to someone directly, please email safetyfirst@firstinspires.org or call 603-206-2050. You can find more information, training, and guidance at http://www.firstinspires.org/youth-protection.
Profile & Setup
Prior to the Event
Please register with FIRST! All volunteers’ names must be in the FIRST Volunteer Management System (VMS) database prior to the event.
For the best volunteer experience, please ensure the following information in your FIRST Inspires profile is current:
- Preferred names and pronouns can be provided or updated by clicking your name in the upper-right corner of the browser window and clicking "My Profile."
- FIRST alumni information, employer, school, or other affiliations may be provided or updated by clicking your name in the upper-right corner of the browser window, clicking "My Profile," and then navigating to "My Information."
- Dietary restrictions, allergies, and preferred shirt size may be provided or updated by clicking your name in the upper-right corner of the browser window, clicking "My Profile," and then navigating to "Volunteer Information."
Updates about the UNH District Event will be sent to your inbox closer to the beginning of the event.
Getting Here
The Whittemore Center at the University of New Hampshire is located at 128 Main St, Durham, NH 03824. A map of the area around the building can be found below.
Reminders/Other
– To park at the venue, a Parking Pass will need to be printed and displayed on your dashboard. Your Volunteer Coordinator should have sent it to you. If you have not received it, please reach out ASAP!
– Please make sure to check in each day at the Volunteer Check-In table
– Some “on-site” rearranging of volunteers may be necessary to fill in critical volunteer positions
– If someone asks you a question that you cannot answer, please send them to the Pit Admin table or find an event organizer
– The bleacher seating is open to the teams; the playing field is only open to volunteers, media, FIRST personnel, VIPs, and teams
– Safety glasses are required for everyone in the pit area and playing field
– Lost & Found is located at Pit Administration
– There is an on-site machine shop for teams to repair their robots.
– Please read through your volunteer info and/or training material if provided
See the "Standard Event Volunteer Checklist" below for a to-do list to ensure that you are prepared for the event!
Stay tuned for updates about the UNH District Event! They will be sent to your inbox closer to the beginning of the competition.
Who Do I Report To?
Field Volunteers, including Field Assembly/Disassembly & Field Repair/Reset
Report to: Field Supervisor
Referees & Official Scorers
Report to: Head Referee
Judges
Report to: Judge Advisor
Team Queuing Volunteers
Report to: Lead Queuer
Pit Volunteers, including Pit Admin Support & Pit Announcer
Report to: Pit Admin Supervisor
Robot Inspectors
Report to: Lead Robot Inspector
Safety Advisors
Report to: Safety Manager
All Other Volunteers, please report to the Volunteer Coordinators!
Please note:
Names of Volunteer Leads can be found in the volunteer information packet sent to your email. This information is private, and should not be published.
Standard Event Volunteer Checklist
Thank you to our sponsors
Title Sponsor:
Season Presenting Sponsor:
