Awards Based on Team Attributes

Updated

• October 2, 2025

Events Where It Is Awarded

• District Events
• Regional Competitions
• District Championships**
• FIRST Championship Divisions

Description

Celebrates a team who demonstrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school or organization and community.

Guidelines

• A team must be able to describe the following attributes, with an emphasis on the most recent year’s efforts, and with performance indicators that provide measurable success of their efforts:
  •  The extent and inventiveness of the team’s efforts to recruit students to engineering or other STEM fields.
  • Extent and effectiveness of the team’s community outreach efforts.
  • A commitment to science and technology education among the team, school, and community.
  • Achievement of the FIRST mission and ability to communicate that at the competition and away from it.
  • Efforts are ongoing, not strictly concentrated on the build and competition season.

Eligibility

Teams* are eligible for the Engineering Inspiration Award at each Regional or District event. Teams will be restricted to earning this award once at each level of competition. In other words, once a team has earned Engineering Inspiration Award at a Regional or District event, they may not earn it again that season at a later Regional or District Event. At District Championship, only District teams that have won Engineering Inspiration Award at a District event during the current season are eligible.

*District Teams who participate at Regionals or inter-district events are not eligible for the Engineering Inspiration Award at those events.

**An interview room may be used for this award at the District Championships. Teams should not prepare a presentation for this interview. The purpose of this interview is to replace the traditional pit interview. Please consult your district leadership with any questions.

Updated

• October 2, 2025

Events Where It Is Awarded

• District Events
• Regional Competitions
• District Championship Divisions (for those Districts with multiple Divisions at their District Championships)
• District Championships (for those Districts with single Divisions at their District Championships)
• FIRST Championship Divisions

Description

Celebrates outstanding demonstration of FIRST Core Values such as continuous Gracious Professionalism^®, sportsmanship, and working together both on and off the playing field.

Definition of Gracious Professionalism

• Gracious Professionalism is part of the ethos of FIRST. It’s a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community.
• With Gracious Professionalism, fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions.

Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. They avoid treating anyone like losers. No chest thumping tough talk, but no sticky-sweet platitudes either. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably blended.

Guidelines

• The team exemplifies the principles of FIRST Core Values in relationships with other teams and by their demonstrated Gracious Professionalism.
• The team consistently demonstrates Gracious Professionalism and a positive attitude both on and off the field.
• If the team worked with another FIRST Robotics Competition team pre-season – they can describe the following:
  • How the collaboration was conducted during the off-season and during the build season.
  • How the teams divided up tasks fairly and equitably.
  • How the process of communication flowed from one team to the other.
  • How working together as a group was beneficial over working independently.
  • The financial impacts of working together vs working independently.

Updated

• October 2, 2025

Events Where It Is Awarded

• District Events
• Regional Competitions
• District Championship Divisions (for those Districts with multiple Divisions at their District Championships)
• District Championships (for those Districts with single Divisions at their District Championships)
• FIRST Championship Divisions

Description

In honor of Jack Kamen, Dean’s father, for his dedication to art and illustration and his devotion to FIRST. This award celebrates attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual aesthetic integration of machine and team appearance.

Guidelines

• The team must be able to describe its theme and its origins.
• The theme is original and is fitting to the objectives, character, and/or history of the team.
• The theme is incorporated into all aspects of the team, i.e. uniforms, pits, machine, mascot, etc.
• Visuals of the integrated team/machine are exceptional and attractive.
• The team theme is supportive of the principles of FIRST Core Values.

Updated

• October 2, 2025

Events Where It Is Awarded

• District Events
• Regional Competitions
• District Championship Divisions (for those Districts with multiple Divisions at their District Championships)
• District Championships (for those Districts with single Divisions at their District Championships)
• FIRST Championship Division

Description

During the course of the competition, the judging panel may decide a team’s unique efforts, performance, or dynamics merit recognition.

Guidelines

• This team has fully embraced the principles of FIRST
• Many judges have noticed and commented on the positive aspects of the team.
• The team exemplifies a positive attribute or feature that is not addressed in the criteria for other awards that merits recognition.

Updated

• October 2, 2025

Events Where It Is Awarded

• District Events
• Regional Competitions
• District Championship Divisions (for those Districts with multiple Divisions at their District Championships)
• District Championships (for those Districts with single Divisions at their District Championships)
• FIRST Championship Divisions

Description

Celebrates the team that has persisted through challenges, despite the difficulties of being young. This could be the result of being a new team, or a team with recent turnover in membership. 

Judges have the option of not presenting this award if they feel no team competing meets the criteria.

Guidelines

• This team understands the power of the FIRST mission and demonstrates through their actions both at home and at the competition the ethos of Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition.
• This team is a role model for other young teams
• This team stands out as a team with a sustainable and promising future with FIRST.
• The purpose of this award is to recognize new teams or teams that have new beginnings
• Teams do not have to be in their first year. For example, the award could recognize a team in their second or third year who has undergone significant growth or succeeded despite challenges.

Updated

• October 2, 2025

Events Where It Is Awarded

• District Events
• Regional Competitions
• District Championships**
• FIRST Championship Divisions

Description

Celebrates the rookie team exemplifying a young but strong partnership effort, as well as implementing the mission of FIRST to inspire students to learn more about science and technology. 

As there are often far fewer rookie teams than veteran teams present at events, Judges have the option of not presenting this award if they feel no rookie team competing meets the criteria.

Guidelines

• This team seems like a “FIRST Impact Award team in the making.” (Community activities, leadership, vision, spirit, etc.)
• The team is a true partnership between school or organization and sponsors.
• The team understands what FIRST is really trying to accomplish – realizes that technical stuff is fun, challenging, and offers a future.
• This team has built a robot appropriate to the game’s challenges.

Eligibility

Rookie Teams* are eligible for the Rookie All-Star Award at each Regional or District event. Teams will be restricted to earning this award once at each level of competition. In other words, once a team has earned Rookie All-Star Award at a Regional or District event, they may not earn it again that season at a later Regional or District Event. At District Championship, only District teams that have won Rookie All-Star Award at a District event during the current season are eligible.

*District Teams who participate at Regionals or inter-district events are not eligible for the Rookie All-Star Award at those events.

**An interview room may be used for this award at the District Championships. Teams should not prepare a presentation for this interview. The purpose of this interview is to replace the traditional pit interview. Please consult your district leadership with any questions.

Updated

• October 2, 2025

Events Where It Is Awarded

• District Events
• Regional Competitions
• District Championship Divisions (for those Districts with multiple Divisions at their District Championships)
• District Championships (for those Districts with single Divisions at their District Championships)
• FIRST Championship Divisions

Description

Celebrates extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit through exceptional partnership and teamwork furthering the objectives of FIRST.

Guidelines

• The team displays obvious enthusiasm – in supporting teams, appearance, interactions with teams/judges, etc. – at the competition.
• Spirit is part of the team and is apparent in all they do, including at their school, in their community, with sponsors and other teams, etc.
• They demonstrate spirit as a unified team.

Updates

• October 7, 2025

Events Where It's Awarded

• District Events
• Regional Competitions
• District Championship Divisions (for those Districts with multiple Divisions at their District Championships)
• District Championships (for those Districts with single Divisions at their District Championships)
• FIRST Championship Divisions

Description

Celebrates a team which has developed sustainable practices that focus on a “triple bottom line” (i.e. People, Prosperity, and Planet) to have a positive impact and achieve long-term continuity. 

Guidelines

• The team must be able to explain their plans and actions associated with one or more of the following sustainability initiatives:
  • People initiatives:
    • How the team recruits, trains, and retains students, mentors, and sponsors.
  • Prosperity initiatives:
    • How the team fundraises and creates and tracks budgets.
    • How the team identifies and manages risks (e.g. money, students, mentors, etc.).
  • Planet initiatives:
    • How the team assesses its environmental impact and what the team does to mitigate or reduce it.
    • How the team’s environmental sustainability strategy impacts their team longevity.