FAQ for new parents

Who can join?

This program is for all kids in grades 8-12 in our area who are interested in being part of a team, having fun and making friends.

We are a community based team so we serve kids who do not have FIRST Robotics in their own school.

You don't need to be a computer wizard or have expereince using tools, it is our job to teach you things and you can find a way to contribute to our team.

How much does this cost?

Robotics is expensive. Our students pay $300 to be on the team. On top of that, they also pay for their own travel, which can be around $360 for one of our trips like the Provincials this year ( 3 nights hotel, transportation, some meals, share of team costs)

Our budget for 2026 as a team was about $27,000

This comes from either student registration fees (approx $7,000), fundraising (approx $6,000) and sponsorships/donations (approx $14,000).

When and where do we meet?

This year we met mostly at the University of Windsor and later in the year also did some build and practice at St. Clair College. We will likely return to those locations for the 2026-27 season.

We met on Monday nights in the fall and then Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturdays during the build and competitions season (January through April).

There is no minimum required hours per week for our team, but most kids would work one night a week and Saturday during build season.

Our general though has always been "the more you put in the more you get out"!

Some of the things you can do on the team..... Design and Build

Designing and building the robot to play the robot game for that year

Strategy and drive

Our strategy and drive teams are the ones who drive the robot in competition (lots of time needs to be dedicated to practice!) and strategy studies the game and decides what we should build and how we should play.

Programming and Electrical

There is lots to do and learn about programming in robotics. Programmers make the robot move, shoot, navigate and perfom all the actions we need it to do.

Don't forget media!

Media / Admin is another critical part of our team. These kids are responsible for designing our shirts, running our social media, planning our trips and doing all of the behind the scenes things that make our team run smoothly.

We have won several awards over the past two years for the work these students have done and our media / admin group is outstanding!

What happens at competition?

At competition we drive our robot to play the robot game. The game is new every year. We compete in alliances of 3 vs 3 robots to score the most points. After qualification matches we form playoff alliances and have an elimination playoff tournament to determine a winner!

Awards, scouting, cheering and meeting new people

Competition is also a great opportunity to make new friends, cheer for your team, maintain the robot (we break the robot ALOT!) and scout the matches to try to pick our best possible playoff alliance.

Competition is the best part of the season.

Where are competitions?

These change every year as there are competitions all over Ontario. With our registration we get to compete in two qualifying events and then if we are good enough we go to the provincials Championships.

In 2025 we competed in Newmarket, Windsor and provincials in Mississauga.

In 2026 we competed at McMaster, Windsor and provincials was held in Niagara Falls.

Competition season runs for about 7 weeks from the beginning of March until mid April.

How involved do I need to be as a parent?

There is no correct answer for this. Some parents like to be very involved, like to go to all of the competitions and help out where they can.

Others just want to drop their kids off and pick them up.

Either is fine as long as you are supporting your kids.

For travel we do not require parents to go on our trips as long as we have enough transportation to get everone there.

Who are the mentors?

We have a fantastic group of mentors (about 10 of them) who come from several different professions.

We are a mix of men and women and provide several unique perspectives. The one thing we have in common is we are all either parents or siblings of kids who have gone through the FIRST programs and understand the value that it provides to our kids.

We also have a group of "youth mentors" who are alumni of our teams who come out to help work with the kids as well.

Page updated

Report abuse