FIRST LEGO League – Challenge

2024-25 – Submerged

last updated on October 4, 2024 (event dates)

previous update on September 4, 2024

Who can participate?

  • Members of FIRST LEGO League Challenge teams in BC and the Yukon can’t be older than 14 years on January 1st of the year when the challenge details are announced.
  • In other words, anyone who is 14 years old on January 1, 2024, can be on a FIRST LEGO League Challenge team in BC and the Yukon for the Submerged season – even if they turn 15 on January 2.
  • Exceptions can be made in special cases; please contact uleslie@firstpartners.org for this.
  • The lower age limit is flexible. FIRST recommends that teams members should be at least 9 years old. If you want to register a younger child please contact uleslie@firstpartners.org.

Team registration with FIRST

  • Any team from BC or the Yukon should register and compete in the “BC region”.
  • Registration will be open “all year”.
  • If your team wants to attend a qualifier, please register by October 31.

Coach and team member online sign-up

  • Each team needs two coaches with their YPP screening done and the FIRST consent and release form signed.
  • Also, please make sure that the parents/guardians of your team members get their FIRST accounts and sign up their kids for the team.
  • It sometimes takes a while before all adults do this, so it is a good idea to start early.
  • FIRST has made the sign-up much easier with the express enrollment, where the coach sends a direct link!
  • How to sign up
  • If things don’t seem to work on the FIRST website, call FIRST at 1-800-871-8326 or at 1-603-666-3906 for help.

Volunteers

  • We always need lots of volunteers at events. Please encourage family and friends of your teams to sign up as volunteers! To do this, they need to set up an account with FIRST (just like the team parents/guardians) and then go to the “volunteer registration” tab on their dashboard and select the event of their choice.
  • Here is the “volunteer starting page”.
  • It is helpful if volunteers sign up early since that will give them more time to do any necessary screening or training.
  • If you are a coach, consider volunteering as a judge at some tournament where your team is not participating – it is really helpful to experience how judging works.
  • If you have questions about volunteering, please contact Uschi at uleslie@firstpartners.org

Scrimmages

  • Several scrimmages are planned; please watch for announcements by email and under “events” on this website.

Qualifying tournaments

  • Qualifying tournaments are planned as follows:
    • Northern BC: January 11 2025 at Mount Elizabeth Secondary School, Kitimat
    • Victoria: January 12 2025 at University of Victoria, ECS Building
    • Whitehorse: January 18 2025 at CSSC Mercier
    • Lower Mainland 1: January 19  2025 at L.A. Matheson Secondary School
    • Lower Mainland 2: February  1 2025 at Grandview Heights Secondary School
    • Kelowna: February  2025 at TBA
  • If your team is located very far away from any qualifier, we will work out an individual solution.

Qualifying tournament registration

  • We will have a registration period of one month, from October 30 at 10 am to November 27 at 11 pm.

Payment for tournament registration

  • The tournament registration fee is $200.
  • The registration fee covers all BC/Yukon tournaments (i.e., there is no extra tournament fee if your team advances to the championship). It also covers participation in online mini-tourneys (see below).

Cancellation policy

  • If your team registers and pays for a tournament and then has to cancel
    • You will get a full refund if cancelling by the end of the registration period.
    • You will get a $100 refund if cancelling after the end of the registration period but by December 31 or at least two weeks before your qualifier, whichever comes first.
    • You will get no refund if cancelling after December 31
  • If a tournament has to be cancelled and can’t be rescheduled, we will do a random draw to determine the advancing teams
  • If a tournament gets rescheduled and your team can’t make the new date, you will unfortunately have lost the chance to compete

Advancement to championship tournament

  • A percentage of teams from each qualifier (the same for each one) will advance to the championship.
  • Advancing teams will be notified at the awards ceremony at the end of their qualifier.

Championship Tournament

  • The BC/Yukon championship for FLL Challenge will be on Sunday, March 9, 2025, at Meadowridge School in Maple Ridge.

Online Mini-Tourneys

  • We are running a series of online mini-tournaments – short events with abbreviated judging and robot game.
  • These events won’t lead to advancement to other tournaments.
  • Mini-Tourneys will start in November 2024 and will run until May 2025.
  • Please check email announcements or the FIRST Robotics BC Events Calendar for details.
  • All teams are invited to participate; the fee to participate is $50 unless you have already paid the general tournament registration fee. Your team can participate in all mini-tourneys, or just in individual ones of your choice. The $50 fee covers all mini-tourneys.

Coach Support

  • We will hold monthly online “coach chats” – a chance for coaches (and mentors) to connect, exchange experiences and gets tips.
  • These chats are planned for Monday nights at 7:30pm, with the first one happening on October 7, the following ones on the 1st Monday of the month, and the last one in March.
  • Please check email announcements or the FIRST Robotics BC Events Calendar for details.

Judging Details:

Spectators in judging rooms

  • Spectators are welcome in the judging rooms.
  • No spectators can enter any interview room after the interview has started.

Questions?

Email uleslie@firstpartners.org