Hi all!
I’m a mom of two middle school kiddos and am interested in starting a FTC team. However I have absolutely zero idea where to start other than finding a group of 6-8 kids to join the team. How do I register, what will I need, etc. Lol I’m so lost I don’t even know the right questions to ask on here. I’ve tried to ask on FB groups and my local reddit group whether there are any local teams we can join, but no luck, so I figured I’d just start my own. If there’s maybe a different way to ask to join a local team that would be great too, but I’m not afraid of a little hard work to get a local team going, just need the right info to get me started. Any and all help would be so greatly appreciated!!!
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I would suggest finding a build location, generally you want a little “workshop” for working. That can be a back room of your workplace or even your garage. I know some local frc/ftc teams use their garage for the field and workshop, but also some who use computer rooms in classrooms for their field and tool storage.
It’s easier than FRC (I’m FRC student) so its definitely less funding necessary as the robots are smaller. There are lots of grant databases out there to apply to next spring/summer. Get some tools too, drills, hex key sets, wrenches, etc. a storage cabinet.
Not sure if this applies to FTC, but I’m sure it does in some way. McMaster-Carr has been a nice general source for some of our FRC stuff if that helps.
Step one is recruiting students first. Thus, it’s good that you know how to do that. That might actually be one of the harder things alongside being a rookie team. These students might be a lot harder to come by and a lot harder to keep bringing back, so make sure you can do that.
I’m not sure if this is correct, but I’m pretty sure you’ll need two (or more if you wish) adults/mentors (over 25 years?) who pass Youth Protection Program (YPP) screens to serve as coaches in order to register the FTC team. Start a FIRST Tech Challenge Team | FIRST
If you haven’t already, you can try looking here: Team and Event Search | FIRST
Best of luck to you on your FIRST endeavors!
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Hello, OP!
First question: Where do you hail from? The competition structure varies a bit by region, and your local Program Delivery Partner would surely love to know you exist.
The good news is that FTC teams are relatively easy to stand up as a neighborhood group, and if there’s nothing around you’re probably going to find it’s easier to say “hey come do this” than “anyone doing this?” in those same Facebook groups.
It may be too late to swing things for 2024-25, depending on the region or any area teams. But at worst, you can lay groundwork. FTC is big on keeping things steady from year to year, so things you acquire now (assuming they’re FTC-legal) are highly likely to stay that way for 2025-26.
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Going to add onto Billfred’s statement; I highly recommend visiting competitions this year with your kiddos to see what FTC is. You might be able to speak with some teams (when they aren’t busy!) about their budgets, sponsorship process, and more.
Here’s a short list of things I reccomend:
- Visit the FTC Calendar to familiarize yourself with the season
- Pre-Season means the “downtime” / “spring training” of robotics. Teams use this time to train new students, acquire funds, do outreach events, recruit new students, and prepare for season
- Kickoff is in September, usually on the first Saturday. This year was September 7, for reference.
- Qualifiers are at different times for every state/region, your PDP can tell you more information!
- FTC has many resources to look into!
- If students are confused about the robot and designs, have them review previous kickoffs to understand size, general game expectations, etc.
- This helps students understand why the games are the way they are, and could even open up new ideas for design.
- You’ll need…
- Note: if you want to fundraise / obtain sponsorships, you’ll need a nonprofit license/status (called a 501c3). I would consult a local lawyer about this process if you choose to go down this route. As a “garage” team, this may not be nessecary, but funding will be tough.
I have a ton more, but it’d be better off for a 1:1 discussion. I mentor FTC in Connecticut. If you are interested we can sit down and further discuss what you may need, sample budgets, etc. Message me if you’re interested! (I’m over 18 so you can message me 
)
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There’s definitely a too much to learn all at once so don’t worry about getting everything figured out immediately. Here are a few pieces of advice:
Location makes a big impact so when you’re looking for season schedules, how teams qualify to higher tier events and all sorts of logistics make sure you are getting information for your area. Here in Michigan the FTC season will be basically over in 3 weeks and FTC is limited to middle school only, but in most of the world I believe FTC competitions run into the new year and are open to high schoolers.
Do not over commit and keep your expectations realistic. Some FIRST teams have decades of combined FIRST mentoring experience, access to huge fabrication and software resources, and can put a lot of time into the program. Other teams don’t have those resources, but still can get valuable experiences and opportunities. Keep focused on your own team learning new things and having a good experience, not on winning your first comp. Get a basic functioning robot to your competition, you can dig into more advanced mechanisms, strategies, scouting etc. in the future as the team gains experience and if you chose to spend the time.
The FIRST community can be a strange and wonderful place, there are many different ways to communicate with other FIRST people. Chief Delphi is the number one place to drown in an excess of FRC knowledge, rumors, gossip, and philosophical debates, but it can be a big time commitment if you really follow it and there isn’t much specific to FTC. Chief Delphi has a lot of active users with many years of FIRST and professional engineering experience you can tap into. Delphi can be a great resource but it isnt always a good way to spend your time. Facebook and and Reddit seem to be way less active and way less knowledgeable in my experience (mostly FRC). If you’re finding useful content awesome, but I have seen people post stuff that directly contradicts the official rules so be careful. Relationships with local FIRST people can get you great advice, spare parts, maybe an invitation to joint drive practice and more. Reach out to your local teams and volunteers. FIRST puts out some helpful materials and blogs, so I would sign up to some of their mailing lists, but its not really a two way street so if you have questions that aren’t “Why can’t I log in to my account?” or “How do I change my team’s name?”, best to ask the community in some form. There are also Discord servers and Slacks that are active and can be good places to ask questions, but I don’t know them very well personally.
Last, but probably the most important rule of FIRST: Read the manual! Start each season with everyone reading the manual thoroughly. Then when you have any questions about a game or robot construction, check the manual. The manual is the highest authority, and if something isn’t in the manual it isn’t a game rule.
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Wow!! Thank you so much for all that info. I have a build space and the basic tools you mentioned. I’ll have to look into finding another mentor. You all have given me so much info to look into, but as @Patrick3357 mentioned, theres definitely too much to learn all at once. Im going to chunk this info and reach out again once I have more specific info. Thanks for taking the time you guys!
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