RESOURCE LIBRARY

The formation of new FIRST^® Robotics Competition teams is critical to FIRST^® Founder Dean Kamen's vision of changing the culture and creating the spirit of Gracious Professionalism^® that is open and friendly to new participants. Newly formed FIRST Robotics Competition teams fall into several categories which are noted below.

This webpage describes the different types of teams and the differences between them. It is important to remember that these are guidelines only and FIRST will review special situations on a case-by-case basis as they are brought to our attention. Teams that do not meet the guidelines and wish to submit a petition for Rookie Status may do so by writing to us at customerservice@firstinspires.org. We ask the following to be added to the subject line: “Request for 2026 Rookie Status” along with a full description of the situation.

Types of Teams

• Rookie Teams - These are new teams that are:
  • associated with a school or organization that did not have a FIRST Robotics Competition team participate in the last 3 seasons, 
  • do not have 6 or more student participants with prior FIRST Robotics Competition experience, and 
  • eligible for the New Team Grant
• New Veteran Teams - These are new teams that do not meet the official Rookie definition. This could because they are a sibling team, were formed from a separation (Separation/Combine Rules), are reactivating a team that has not participated within 3 seasons, or have more than 6 students with previous experience.
• Veteran Teams - These are teams that have competed in more than 1 season.
  • See the Separation/Combine Rules if you are merging or separating teams

Team Status & Differences 

Multiple Teams

Sibling Teams: FIRST Robotics Competition has defined Sibling Teams as multiple teams associated with one organization. All Sibling Teams must follow the Guidelines for Sibling Teams while competing in FIRST Robotics Competition.