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Official Sport of Robotics
Varsity Sport Recognition Resources for Robotics
With exciting, competitive team activities that build critical skills, confidence, and resilience, FIRST® is the only sport where every kid can go pro. This page offers tools and resources to help advocates gain official recognition for youth robotics as a sport in schools, states, and nations around the world.
GLOBAL ADVOCACY RESOURCES
Robotics is a Global Sport
The sport of robotics challenges students to use their minds and bodies to design, build, and drive a robot to score points in a competitive format as they work hard to develop their skills, collaborate as a team, and build confidence and resilience. In many countries and localities, there are specific benefits associated with formal recognition as a sport. In 2023, Belize became the first country in the world to officially declare robotics a sport, advocated by the nation’s FIRST community. Visit the FIRST Global website for a collection of resources to campaign for robotics to be recognized as an official sport in your area.
MEDIA RECOGNITION
Media Coverage of the Sport of Robotics
National media coverage has helped solidify the sport of robotics and FIRST as its gold standard. FIRST has been covered as a sport. Award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, a correspondent for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” sat down with FIRST Founder Dean Kamen and visited FIRST teams and events around the U.S. to find out how FIRST is recruiting the next generation of problem solvers, making robotics “a sporting event unlike any other.” On ABC News, Good Morning America highlighted robotics as a new trend in high school sports with more schools starting FIRST teams.
Varsity/Interscholastic Sport Recognition Resources
The following resources are provided for FIRST® Robotics Competition or FIRST® Tech Challenge teams and other supporters looking to pursue robotics as an Interscholastic Sanctioned Activity in their state. Special thank you to Mark Lawrence, Laurie Shimizu, and FIRST Robotics Competition Teams 1816, 2177, and 1529 for their contributions.
"The MSHSL (Minnesota State High School League) designation, that FIRST (robotics) is a varsity sport, allows us to talk about FIRST in such a way that people new to our competition can understand. We use familiar sports language as a bridge to build new understanding about what it means to have a 21st century sport steeped in STEM." - Laurie Shimizu, FIRST Senior Mentor, Edina, Minn.
GETTING STARTED
Getting Started Checklist
This downloadable and printable checklist helps teams understand the steps necessary to begin the approval process.
RESOURCE MATERIALS
State Interscholastic Leagues
For high school robotics teams located in the U.S., visit the National Federation of State High School Associations for your state’s interscholastic league contact information.
RESOURCE MATERIALS
Code of Conduct Example
View an example of a varsity robotics team code of conduct from FIRST® Robotics Competition Team 1816.
RESOURCE MATERIALS
Team Handbook Example
View an example of a varsity robotics team handbook from FIRST® Robotics Competition Team 1816.
RESOURCE MATERIALS
Varsity Lettering Requirements
View an example of a varsity robotics team’s varsity lettering requirements from FIRST® Robotics Competition Team 2177.
RESOURCE MATERIALS
Varsity Letter Policy Example
View an example of a varsity robotics team’s varsity letter policy from FIRST® Robotics Competition Team 1529.