My students have won the Dutch Robocupjunior Soccer league and qualified for the European Championship in Croatia as well as the World Championship in Bordeaux. In previous years, the team was limited to participating to only one international competition per academic year. From reading the most current rules there does not seem to be such a limitation.
My question: Is it allowed for a team to participate in multiple international events in one academic year?
The underlying motive for this question is as follows. For some years now, the Dutch Robocupjunior organization only organizes the soccer entry league, this used to be soccer lightweight 2 vs 2. Due to lack of teams that are capable of playing 2 vs 2 lightweight matches, the organization decided to make the competition more entry friendly. This proved great for beginners, but that also meant that our experienced team had to participate in the Entry League as well because lightweight 2 vs 2 got discontinued. The result in previous years was that my students did not get the chance to really test their robots against teams with a similar skill level in preparation for the World Championship lightweight 2 vs 2. It goes without saying that Soccer entry and lightweight 2 vs 2 are two completely different experiences. If my students were to both participate in the European Championship as well as the World Championship, the European championship could be their “real” chance to test their robots against more experienced teams on their level. This would allow them to evaluate their decisions in preparation for the World Championship in bordeaux.
If there are others mentors that have/had a similar situation, feel free to share your experience or thoughts with me!
Am I understanding correctly that this concerns Team only Roboticus because they are already a 2v2 team but no further teams because new teams do not do 2v2?
To answer your questions, Roboticus is the only Dutch team that has been consistently participating in the Robocupjunior (international) soccer competition for many years. The team used to play 2v2 lightweight matches but unfortunately the Dutch organization had to discontinue 2v2 a few years ago due to lack of teams so they introduced the entry league instead to keep the soccer competition alive. The team however, never downgraded to the entry league level but participates in the entry league because this is the only national organized soccer league and the only way to qualify for international competitions. Their robots are designed to play in the lightweight league during the World Championship competition where they can play 2v2 lightweight matches again and learn from other teams.
I didn’t find any regulations concerning a limit on international matches either, but this regulation is still being communicated via the national Dutch Robocupjunior commitee. In that case it might just be a national rule/preference? If that is the case, I will contact them to see if a change can be made.
In terms of qualification, Roboticus has always been qualifying for the 2v2 lightweight leagues in both the World Championship as the European Championship.
you are fine to participate in both, I checked with both the intl. and the European orgs. If your region gets increased 2v2 participation you will of course need to go back to the non-overlapping “first place qualifies for intl., second for European”-scheme.
Cheers and looking forward to seeing you at both tournaments,
David