FIRST^® Tech Challenge is way more than building robots. FIRST Tech Challenge teams (up to 15 team members, grades 7-12) are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format.

Guided by adult coaches and mentors, students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles, while realizing the value of hard work, innovation, and working as a team.

The robot kit is reusable from year to year and can be coded using a variety of levels of Java-based programming. Teams design and build robots, raise funds, design and market their team brand, and do community outreach to earn specific awards. Participants are eligible to apply for $80M+ in college scholarships.

Throughout the season, the students:

Design, build, and program a competition robot using an industrial-style robotics platform.
Test, refine, and improve their robot through engineering, coding, and iterative problem-solving.
Document their engineering process, set goals, and share their impact through outreach and community engagement.
Develop leadership, teamwork, communication, and technical skills while practicing the FIRST Core Values.
Compete in exciting alliance matches, present their work to judges, and celebrate their accomplishments at Colorado FIRST competitions.

We express the FIRST® philosophies of Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® through our Core Values:

Discovery: We explore new skills and ideas.
Innovation: We use creativity and persistence to solve problems.
Impact: We apply what we learn to improve our world.
Inclusion: We respect each other and embrace our differences.
Teamwork: We are stronger when we work together.
Fun: We enjoy and celebrate what we do!

Teams attend a Qualifying Tournament as the culmination of their build season. Qualifiers are typically held on Saturdays from December through February and are full-day events where teams compete, showcase their engineering work, and celebrate the season with the FIRST community.

Qualifying Tournaments consist of three main components:

Robot Competition – Teams compete in alliance-based matches, where two teams work together against another alliance to score points by completing game-specific challenges. Teams participate in qualification matches before advancing to playoff rounds based on their performance.

Judging – Teams present their engineering portfolio and meet with judges to share their robot design process, programming strategy, team journey, outreach efforts, and how they demonstrate the FIRST Core Values.

Awards & Advancement – Teams are recognized for achievements in areas such as robot design, innovation, community impact, and teamwork. Top-performing teams earn a chance to compete at the Colorado FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship, with opportunities to advance to the FIRST Championship.

FIRST Tech Challenge needs two dedicated adult coaches to guide students throughout their STEM exploration journey. No technical skills are required!
Students do not need to have expressed an interest in STEM to participate – they just need a sense of adventure and curiosity to explore.

FIRST Tech Challenge

2001

Colorado Nonprofit

Inspire Colorado Students

We express the FIRST® philosophies of Gracious Professionalism® and Coopertition® through our Core Values:

2 Coaches

4-15 Students

Grades 7-12

Season Resource Center

Festival Schedule