# Overview of the Program

Whether you're new to FIRST^® or just want to understand how it works in Florida, let's take a look at the program from big to small.

# The Short Version

FIRST is a global nonprofit, and FIRST Tech Challenge is one of their programs.
Florida is a FIRST Tech Challenge Region.
Florida uses a League system for advancement between events.
Most of the regular season happens in a local league, with some teams advancing to post-season events.

# FIRST

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) is a global nonprofit that prepares young people for the future through a suite of welcoming, team-based robotics programs for ages 5-18 (K-12).

Purpose

Vision

Mission

FIRST exists to prepare the young people of today for the world of tomorrow.

To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders.

The mission of FIRST is to provide life-changing robotics programs that give young people the skills, confidence, and resilience to build a better world.

To do this, they have three educational robotics programs:

FIRST^® LEGO^® League

FIRST^® Tech Challenge

FIRST^® Robotics Competition

FIRST^® LEGO^® League offers age-appropriate STEM experiences for kids ages 5-16 through playful robotics and team-based learning. Materials help guide coaches, educators, and students through a series of sessions centered around a yearly theme. The program can be run as a small team or in a classroom-like environment. *Ages vary by country.

Learn more

FIRST^® Tech Challenge participants design and build a classroom-scale robot and compete in a yearly challenge. Along the way, they gain technical skills and work collaboratively to solve problems. Materials include robot build guides, game manuals, and a coach handbook to help guide the experience.

Learn more

FIRST^® Robotics Competition empowers and challenges students to build industrial-sized robots to play in a yearly game. As they work together to create a team identity, build a robot, and advance appreciation for STEM in their community, they learn about career opportunities and leave with lifelong skills. Materials include a standard Kit of Parts, coach and mentor guidance, and robot building and programming documentation.

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We're focused on that middle program: FIRST Tech Challenge.

# FIRST Tech Challenge

Sitting between the LEGO^®-based learning experiences of FIRST^® LEGO^® League and the industrial-sized robots of FIRST^® Robotics Competition, FIRST^® Tech Challenge provides a yearly challenge using classroom-scale robots. It is:

Aligned with common school years (kickoff in September, Championship in April)
Reasonable to do in a classroom environment (robots up to 18in. cubed)
Accessible to middle- and high-school students

Despite being smaller in size, FIRST Tech Challenge participants solve real engineering problems using a broad set of materials. Beyond STEM skills, students can also gain experience with financial planning, marketing, fundraising, and communication.

Registration Fee

FIRST Tech Challenge charges a $325 registration fee for teams each season. Teams are required to have two registered coaches who consent to background screening each year.

# Florida FIRST Tech Challenge

FIRST Tech Challenge divides the world into Regions for the purpose of competition. These regions often align with states, provinces, or countries. In our case, the state of Florida in the United States is a Region.

FIRST works with the Orlando Robotics Foundation, a local nonprofit organization, as the Program Delivery Organization for FIRST Tech Challenge in Florida. Every Program Delivery Organization names an individual Program Delivery Partner to serve as the primary point of contact for the program.

Program Delivery Partner

Program Delivery Organization

AJ Foster
afoster@firstpartners.org

Orlando Robotics Foundation
PO Box 781291, Orlando, FL 32829

If you have any questions about FIRST Tech Challenge in Florida, finding a team, or starting one of your own, start with an email to the Program Delivery Partner.

# Leagues

In Florida, we further divide the region geographically into Leagues. Similar to high school athletics, teams begin the season with local events that include neighboring teams. As they participate in League Meets, teams accumulate a ranking. At the league’s capstone League Tournament event, teams play additional matches, enter into playoff rounds, and participate in a judging process for judged awards. High-performing teams from the League Tournament will advance to the Florida Championship.

graph LR
    S(Scrimmages<br>_Practice Only_)
    LM(League Meets<br>_Matches Only_)
    LT(League Tournament<br>_Matches + Judging_)
    FL(Florida Championship)
    FC(_FIRST_ Championship)
    PE(Premier Events)

    S ~~~ LM
    LM -->|Ranking| LT
    LT -->|Advances| FL
    FL -->|Advances| FC
    FL -->|Advances| PE

Each league is an informal entity led by a volunteer league leadership committee. They plan events in their area and perform the majority of communication with teams and volunteers throughout the year. Often, leagues partner with an affiliate nonprofit organization to help manage their finances.

League Fees

Separate from the FIRST Tech Challenge registration fee, leagues charge an annual fee between $150–300. This covers local event costs (purchasing playing fields, volunteer lunches, and venue fees). Information about these fees comes from the individual leagues.

# Season

The FIRST Tech Challenge season begins with a kickoff near the beginning of September and ends with the FIRST Championship event near the end of April. A typical season looks like this:

September: Kickoff, workshop events, and volunteer training
October: Scrimmage events, which do not contribute to ranking or advancement, but provide valuable practice for teams and volunteers
November–January: League Meets events, where teams play matches and accumulate a league ranking
January–February: League Tournament event, where teams play matches and participate in a judging process to earn advancement to the Florida Championship
March: Florida Championship event
April: FIRST Championship event
April–June: Premier Events, which are alternative capstone events around the world

Here in Florida, we traditionally host a live kickoff broadcast for all teams, and invite teams to gather in-person where possible.

# What makes it possible

The Florida FIRST Tech Challenge program wouldn't be possible without the help of our incredible volunteers. Thank you.