Submitted Awards

The FIRST Impact Award is the most prestigious award at FIRST. It honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the mission of FIRST. It was created to keep the central focus of FIRST Robotics Competition on the ultimate goal of transforming the culture in ways that will inspire greater levels of respect and honor for science and technology, as well as encouraging more of today’s youth to become science and technology leaders. 

The concept of the FIRST Impact Award enables FIRST to recognize teams for their exemplary efforts in spreading the FIRST message. Teams must submit for this award by the deadline to be eligible for the award. After submitting, teams will receive an email to confirm the submission has been accepted, as well as list the events the team is eligible to be judged at. The teams who have earned the Regional and District Championship FIRST Impact Award may qualify to compete for the award at FIRST Championship.

Teams are eligible for the FIRST Impact Award at each Regional or District event at which they compete with the following exceptions:

• District Teams are not eligible to win, nor can they interview for the FIRST Impact Award at Regional events or inter-district events.

• Regional Teams are not eligible to win, nor can they interview for the FIRST Impact Award at District events.

Teams will be restricted to earning this award once at each level of competition. In other words, once a team has earned the FIRST Impact Award at a Regional or District event, they may not interview for or earn it again that season at a later Regional or District Event.

Reminder! If Sibling Teams plan to submit for the FIRST Impact Award, they should choose one of the following options:

• Only one of the teams submits for the FIRST Impact Award, or
• Each team can submit and should have different submissions and presentations

FIRST will present a FIRST Impact Award to 1 team at each Regional and District event. FIRST Impact Award recipients from District events will go forward to be considered for the FIRST Impact Award at the District Championship. FIRST Impact Award recipients from Regionals and the District Championships will go forward to be considered for the FIRST Impact Award at the FIRST Championship.

Any team who wins the FIRST Impact Award at a Regional event and does not qualify for FIRST Championship via a direct slot or from the Regional Pool will be offered a remote interview to be eligible to win at FIRST Championship. Teams who win the award and qualify for the FIRST Championship must still attend the event in order to receive an interview. 

Ineligible Teams

• Hall of Fame: Hall of Fame teams are teams that have already earned the Championship FIRST Impact Award and are ineligible to resubmit for consideration for 5 years.
• First Year Teams: Because the FIRST Impact Award recognizes sustained excellence and impact, not just a 1 year team effort, it is not possible for any first-year team (including rookie teams and new teams that have been assigned a veteran number) to receive the FIRST Impact Award. First year teams will NOT be considered for the award and will not be interviewed.

The FIRST Impact Award is presented to the team judged to best exemplify the true meaning of FIRST through measurable impact on participants, school, and community at large with emphasis on promoting science and technology through FIRST programs.

While the FIRST Impact Award is about “more than robots”, teams often leverage their robots to enhance their impact on the broader community. For this reason, it is expected teams in contention for the FIRST Impact Award will have built a robot appropriate to the game’s challenges for the season. This does not require the team to have ranked at a certain level during the event but does require teams to put in more than just the minimal effort necessary to field a drivable robot.

The criterion for the FIRST Impact Award has special emphasis on recent accomplishments within the last 3 years. The judges focus on teams’ activities over a sustained period, as distinguished from just the robot design and build period.

FIRST Robotics Competition is not about machines; it is about the experience of people working together toward a shared goal. Documenting and preserving your team’s FIRST experience becomes an important component of the overall FIRST experience.

Submission Format

• As a team be sure to review the submission and recognize that judges may look to verify claims.
• Do not use the < or > characters in your submission. Using these characters may result in your submission not saving.
• Updated Definitions for 2027 Season! To help standardize FIRST Impact Award judging, FIRST has developed a definition list for terms commonly used by teams. Teams are responsible for policing their own choice of words. Click here to see the FIRST Impact Award Definitions.
  • Please note that teams are strongly encouraged to use the FIRST Impact Award Documentation Form (editable word doc - file automatically downloads). Note that this is not a required form (i.e. you can still be eligible without this form) but providing it shows the Judges that your activities are well planned and documented.

Submission Process

• A student who is designated as the Award Submitter or Lead Coach 1 or 2 can submit the FIRST Impact Award submission
  • The Lead Coach 1 or 2 for each team can assign up to two (2) student award submitters in the FIRST Dashboard. Check out the Instructions to assign an Awards Submitter if you need assistance. 
• Submitters may enter information, save it, and return to the site to edit the FIRST Impact Award submission until they are ready to finalize it for final judging. All entries must be finalized and submitted by the deadline. No entries will be accepted or altered after the deadline.
• The team must submit their FIRST Impact Award submission, in English**, through the FIRST Dashboard and enter the following required information. Team Number, Name, and Location are automatically included and provided to the judges. 
  • ** FIRST Impact Award Submissions may be in the team’s native language if they are interviewing at an event that speaks their native language. If not, the submission must be in English.
  • If a team wins and their submission was not written in English, they have 1 week from the end of the event (for weeks 1-6) to translate the submission to English. For week 7 events, we must receive translated submission by the Monday immediately following the event. If we do not receive a translated copy of the submission by the deadline, they will no longer be eligible at the FIRST Championship event. 
    • Please send the translated essays to frcteamadvocate@firstinspires.org with the event name in the subject line.
• Teams will not be able to submit the application without agreeing to the FIRST Impact Award Video Consent & Release of Rights Form in the submission portal. 

Teams are asked to submit essays to the following three prompts (up to 4,000 characters for each question including spaces and punctuation). Teams should be sure to use the correct FIRST Impact Award Definitions.

1. How does your team spread the FIRST Mission?
   • Teams should showcase the outreach that they think best addresses this question. For example, talk about topics like starting teams, local volunteerism, demonstrations and presentations, and reaching people not currently aware of FIRST. Teams are encouraged to focus their time on what works best in their communities and can and should add examples beyond what is listed above.
2. How does your team have an impact on the FIRST community?
   • Teams should showcase the outreach that they think best addresses this question. For example, talk about topics like mentoring and/or sustaining teams, hosting or supporting official events, off-season, workshops, and providing published resources. Teams are encouraged to focus their time on what works best in their communities and can and should add examples beyond what is listed above.
3. How does your team inspire the STEM Future with a focus on sustainability of your team?
   • Teams should showcase the outreach that they think best addresses this question. For example, talk about topics like the impact of your team on your members (including increased interest in STEM, college bound, and/or new life skills), helping create curriculum, engaging in Advocacy, and helping other non-FIRST STEM based programs. Teams are encouraged to focus their time on what works best in their communities and can and should add examples beyond what is listed above.

As a reminder, the most effective essays are characterized by an overview of team activities during the last 3 years, followed by in-depth discussion of notable activities during the most recent 12-18 months. Judges use the essays to get a big picture view of the team and to learn about achievements that may be unique and noteworthy. Both large and small teams with various resources will be judged on the impact they create. It is strongly recommended to include measurable data within the essays and the documentation form.

Teams will also see two optional questions:

1. A space for the team to submit a link to their FIRST Impact Award Video
   • Teams are optionally invited to submit a URL to their FIRST Impact Award Video. The video must be hosted on one of these three (3) file sharing sites (Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive) and be made public to allow video downloads.
   • The only way to submit a video is through this portal as part of your submission, a USB will not be accepted at the event. Teams cannot edit the URL after it has been submitted but may continue to update the video file as long as the URL does not change.
   • Teams are strongly encouraged to test the URL by copying the URL and pasting it into an incognito tab to ensure anyone can access the link.
2. A space for the team to submit a link to their FIRST Impact Award Documentation Form (editable word doc)
   • Teams are optionally invited to submit a URL to their FIRST Impact Award Documentation Form. The video must be hosted on one of these three (3) file sharing sites (Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive) and be made public.
   • The only way to submit a documentation form is through this portal as part of your submission. Teams cannot edit the URL after it has been submitted but may continue to update the file as long as the URL does not change. Teams are encouraged to have the file finalized a week before each event to allow judges time to review prior to the event. Any edits that teams make to the file after that may not be reviewed by the judges.
   • Teams are strongly encouraged to test the URL by copying the URL and pasting it into an incognito tab to ensure anyone can access the link.

Teams who have successfully submitted for the FIRST Impact Award will be randomly assigned to an interview time slot at each eligible event. Once the interview schedule has been posted, Pit Admin will make an announcement, and teams can see the slot to which they are assigned. Some teams may need to request to change time slots. In order to do so, the team must find another team who is willing to switch. Both teams will then go to Pit Admin and request the time change. Pit Admin is the only group who can approve the change. Pit Admin will alert the Judge Advisor or Judge Advisor Assistant.

• FIRST Impact Award interviews are limited to 12 minutes total; up to 7 minutes for a presentation by the team (which includes set-up) and the remaining time (5 minutes) is for question and answers led by the judges. If teams use less time than 7 minutes for their presentation, judges may use the remaining minutes (out of 12) for Q and A. 
  • Interviews are conducted in English
    • With the exception of teams interviewing at events where the event speaks their native language: Brazil, China, Chinese Taipei, Israel, Mexico, Quebec, and Türkiye.
  • Teams needing a translator or sign-language interpreter may include an additional person to act as that translator/interpreter. These teams are asked to notify the event by either contacting the local partner prior to the event and/or letting Pit Admin know so the judges can be made aware. The translator/interpreter does not need to be a team member. For these teams, the duration of the interview is increased by up to 5 minutes – up to 2 minutes for the presentation and up to 3 minutes for the Q&A portion.
• No more than 3 student (pre-college) team members are allowed to present information or answer questions from the judges.
• One adult Team Mentor may attend the interview as a silent observer and later provide feedback to the team, but the mentor is not allowed to provide any assistance during the interview. We highly encourage this silent observer in order to provide timely feedback to the team based on observations and noting judges’ questions. This feedback can be very valuable in helping teams hone their skills. Teams will not be marked down for having a mentor present. If the mentor provides any assistance during the interview, the Judges should respectfully remind the mentor of the rule.

Note: These mentors are not allowed to record video or audio or take pictures during the interview.
Exception: If necessary, the adult mentor may provide translation services for students needing foreign language or sign language translation. This person does not count as the adult mentor observer.​

• Teams may also choose to provide additional materials to the judges to review, but it is strongly recommended that the materials are no larger than one 2" 3-ring binder (or equivalent volume if spiral wound). It’s also recommended that materials be in a single bound unit, and not as multiple handouts. Judges may not have time to review all material that is provided to them, but these materials do help them verify any additional questions they have. The binder should focus on the team's activities going back no more than 3 seasons. Please do not try to document your team's entire history in the materials given to judges.

All teams that interview at a Regional or District event will receive feedback on both the interview and their submission. The feedback will answer these questions:

1. What was memorable about the team?
2. Something the judges wanted to hear more about. 

Teams will receive this feedback for all Regional and District Events from the event judges automatically 48 hours after the event. Please note that teams will not receive feedback at FIRST Championship. See the FIRST Impact Award Resource webpage for instructions on how to access the feedback. 

Teams submitting for the FIRST Impact Award are invited to optionally provide a video link along with their submission. The only way to submit a video is through this portal as part of your submission, a USB will not be accepted at the event. Teams cannot edit the URL after it has been submitted but may continue to update the video file as long as the URL does not change. 

The team that is awarded this award will have their video shown during the award ceremony (if available). The content of the video should explain what the team has done to earn the FIRST Impact Award. The video content may be in the team’s native language, but if that language is not English, the team should add English subtitles. The video may be shown to the judges during the team’s presentation if the team chooses. In addition, the team must provide the equipment for viewing (i.e. laptop/speakers etc.) the video if they intend to show it during their interview. 

Content Guidelines:

• Please show us what you are doing to earn the FIRST Impact Award
• Please do not identify minors by full name, use only first names. 
• Teams are encouraged to include closed captions in English on their video.

The Video format is as follows:

• A 16:9 (“widescreen aspect ratio”)
• Not more than 3 minutes long, no shorter than 1 minute long.
• Include a clean audio track
• Free of copyright restrictions, including music.
• The video must be hosted on one of these three (3) file sharing sites (Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive) and be made public to allow video downloads.
  • We know many teams like producing the video with their media sub-teams but may not be able to finish the video by the submission deadline. One thing that teams can consider doing is entering a link during the submission process that will later redirect to the FIRST Impact Award video. This allows teams more time to finish the video if they need or to continue to iterate on the video from event to event. One way to do this is using Google Drive and creating a folder and sharing that folder link in the submission. If you take this approach, there should only be one file in the folder at the event.

Video may consist of:

• Video footage
• Voice over/music over still photographs
• Animated presentation
• PowerPoint converted to VIDEO format

Sound:

• Should be clear of pops and hisses

Copyright:

• If using copyrighted music must have written permission
• If using Creative Commons Music (CCM) online, the music must be used in accordance with the appropriate license and properly attributed.
• Music may not contain offensive or suggestive language

Note: Unless you show your video as part of your presentation, your video will not be judged as part of your submission, though an inappropriate video will disqualify you from winning. 

Teams that have earned the FIRST Impact Award at a Regional or District Championship will be requested via email from FIRST HQ to optionally submit a link of their official FIRST Impact Award Video and presentation video for posting along with their online submission on our FIRST Impact Award Resources webpage. These will be used as resources for current and future FIRST Impact Award submitting teams. We want other teams to be able to see what it takes to be selected for this most prestigious award.

At the FIRST Championship, a panel of judges will interview teams and review the submissions from all the Regional and District Championship FIRST Impact Award recipients and will select 6 FIRST Impact Award Finalists and from those, 1 winning FIRST Impact Award recipient. The Championship FIRST Impact Award teams become Hall of Fame Members.

The Allaire Medal recognizes leadership exemplified and is awarded to an individual student on the team selected as the FIRST Impact Award team.

Named in honor of Paul A. Allaire, a long-serving FIRST Chairman of the Board, the Allaire Medal is given to the student who has demonstrated outstanding leadership on their FIRST team, within their school and community and whose personal character best embodies the spirit of FIRST.

The team earning the FIRST Impact Award at the Championship will select the Allaire Medal recipient. The adult and student team members of the FIRST Impact Award team determine the recipient. The recipient must be a high school junior or senior who has been accepted into a 4-year degree program at a college or university. The Allaire Medalist receives the Allaire medallion and up to $10,000 in total scholarship support for undergraduate tuition, room/board and fees/books at their intended university or college.