Update posted today on the FIRST Championship website. The 2022 FIRST Championship will be a single event held in Houston.
2022 FIRST Championship Update: November 12, 2021
FIRST® Community,
I write to inform you that after careful consideration, FIRST teams will compete in a single season-culminating FIRST Championship event, to be held in Houston, April 20-23, 2022. We have made this decision based on many complex and dynamic factors.
With FIRST ® LEGO® League and FIRST ® Tech Challenge in full gear, and FIRST ® Robotics Competition kickoff planned for January 8, many of you are already active in the FIRST ® FORWARDSM presented by Qualcomm season. However, there is still much unknown around FIRST teams’ ability to travel to FIRST Championship, particularly our international teams (which comprise up to 50% of Championship teams, depending on program). We also recognize the impact that back-to-back events in Houston and Detroit during a pandemic could have on our thousands of volunteers who travel from all over the country and the world to help us deliver FIRST Championship.
We know many in the FIRST family continue to be impacted by the pandemic and are dealing with changing conditions in their regions, communities, and schools – all of which may affect their ability to participate in FIRST. But for those who can accommodate the timing and travel, FIRST Championship will be an opportunity for teams, volunteers, and supporters to compete and celebrate.
For FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition teams, the location of your “home” Championship will not be a factor in eligibility. FIRST LEGO League will use a modified invitation process to allow as many regions as possible to participate in the World Festival, and invitations will be distributed via Program Delivery Partners. We will share more details on advancement for all Programs by mid-December.
As we prioritize access to local in-person events for as many teams as possible across all FIRST programs this season, we remain committed to working with the entire FIRST community to deliver our programs to as many students as possible, as safely as possible. This includes the ability to implement modifications such as the use of masks, health screening, event scaling, social distancing, event formatting, and other precautions.
Thank you for your continued support for our mission as we navigate the season together. Stay tuned for more details about FIRST Championship.
Sincerely,
Chris Rake
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, FIRST
This isn’t how I wanted it to happen, but I’m thrilled to see the best of the best united at one event again. I wonder if we’re back to 8 divisions? I assume this will effect the wildcard situation, too.
This was part of my first thought too. I guess we won’t really know until we have solidified how many teams are actually gonna register, but how does this impact teams hoping to waitlist their way into champs? Fewer overall spots?
The voices of millions of mid-tier cali teams, silenced.
Excited to hear that one champs is back, although I am immensely worried that it is taking place in Texas. I hope that the flagship event for the org can implement the required common sense safety measures required to run a successful event that teams from across the country and world can feel comfortable and safe in attending.
In all sincerity a couple of reasons (and that may have been one of them) facility wise GRRB I believe has a higher capacity for seating since the ceilings are much higher allowing for taller bleachers. Which opens up the possibility for a higher event capacity (not double but more) should conditions allow. I do wish they could find a way to have it moved back a week but I am sure that’s an avenue they already pursued as event logistics are crazy to handle.
One champs makes sense too. Champs costs FIRST tons of $. It’s no surprise to go down to one championship not knowing how many teams will be able to attend.
Press F to pay respects to the teams on the east coast with a week 7 district event who have to drive to Texas because there’s no way they can get their robot shipped in 2 business days with first-provided FedEx (especially with customs for Canadian teams)
timing sucks. Can’t wait to be forced to drive 26 hours if we want to go
