Any group of youth of middle/ high school age can form a team. Teams have two coaches and up to 15 members, and can have any affiliation: school classes, afterschool groups, homeschoolers, Scouts, 4-H clubs, etc. Teams require mentors, sponsors, and passionate students.

The game changes every year, but is always played on a 12’ x 12’ field where two alliances of two teams each vie for points. Your partner team in one match might be your opponent in the next one! Teams can earn awards not just for winning games, but for great engineering documentation, innovative technical design, or community outreach like visiting classrooms or running a robotics activity at their local fair or library.

To register an FTC team:

1. Register your team with FIRST
2. Once registered as an active team with FIRST, you are eligible to register for the Vermont State Competition
3. Questions? Need help starting or finding a team in your area? Contact Vermont’s FTC Program Delivery Partner at vermont.ftc@uvm.edu

Visit FIRST HQ for this year’s Game rules, information about the playing field, scoring instructions and more. You can also visit FIRST’s FTC channel on YouTube to see gameplay from previous years, tech tutorials, and presentations on computational thinking and software writing.

Mentor Volunteering

A mentor is a guest of the team whose role is not to build the robots, but to provide youth with advice and information and to encourage their intellectual growth. Whether you meet with a team virtually, by email, or in-person only once to answer specific questions or you connect regularly throughout the season, mentoring is a great starting point to share your expertise and to connect Vermont youth with tech skills and industry opportunities.

Mentors might provide guidance for team members on technical aspects like how to design for reliability, structure a technical approach, code odometry or autonomous operation, use CAD/ CAM software and tools, debug an electrical problem, or set up experiments to evaluate designs. 

Mentors may also help the team out with crucial non-technical efforts like holding community outreach events, teaching younger kids about robots, and providing guidance or making introductions for fundraising. (You may even end up wanting to become a coach! FIRST is a youth-centered opportunity, and the two team coaches are not required to have technical knowledge. They provide a safe environment, and encourage and guide students.) 

Event Volunteering

FTC events rely on volunteers and there is a wide range of positions, both technical and non-technical, available for those who want to be involved (see detailed event role descriptions here). Not only is it a rewarding opportunity to support kids but the events are high energy, big entertainment displays of amazing achievement by the teams. 

To volunteer:

1. Companies and individuals are invited to contact the FTC Program Delivery Partner at vermont.ftc@uvm.edu to get on our communication radar for events, ask any questions you may have, and arrange the best match for your skills and availability.
2. Register with FIRST as a Volunteer
3. Get ready to have fun

The FIRST Tech Challenge regional championship is an annual event which brings our community together to witness and celebrate the talents, creativity, and energy of students, mentors, and volunteers from all corners of Vermont and beyond. Teams also work together year-round to build STEM skills and explore technology careers. 

Donations are greatly appreciated, whether to support the ongoing FTC program in Vermont  or the annual championship event. You, or your company giving program, can help ensure the sustainability of this unique and powerful program. Please mail checks to:

FIRST@UVM
Attn: Monika Ursiny
Votey Hall, UVM
33 Colchester Avenue
Burlington, VT 05405

If you are interested in establishing or contributing to a FIRST at UVM scholarship, please contact: 

Max Seeland, UVM Foundation director of CEMS gifts, at Maxwell.Seeland@uvm.edu.

General inquiries

vermont.ftc@uvm.edu

Mailing address

FIRST@UVM
Votey Hall, UVM
33 Colchester Avenue
Burlington, VT 05405