Advancement & Capstone Event Preferencing + Summer Opportunities

MTI Team Applications Open February 1, 2026

On Sunday, February 1st, team applications open for the tenth annual Multinational Tech Invitational (MTI) - formerly the Maryland Tech Invitational - a highly competitive, tech focused, international, off-season FIRST® Tech Challenge tournament.

Be part of the experience. Compete for team grants. Earn your place on the MTI field.

Event Dates: June 26-28, 2026

Location: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD.

Invitations are earned through on-field performance during the DECODE℠ season and demonstrated capability in the required solo match video submission.

Application Deadline: Sunday, March 29, 2026
Registration Fee: $800

Important

The MTI is not an FTC Premier Event. Teams must apply to be considered. Invitations are extended to top-performing robot game teams.

Additional MTI opportunities include

• STEM Exposition 
• Intern Networking Program.

See the MTI website to APPLY and for more details.

Questions? Direct them to info@mti.firstchesapeake.org

ADVANCEMENT - FIRST Championship & Premier Events!

We are excited to announce the advancement numbers for FIRST Championship and Premier Events for the 2025/2026 season!!! Advancement from these events is from the region Championships (Arizona and Four Corners). Read more details at this blog post from FTC leadership HERE!

ARIZONA

• 4 teams to FIRST Championship
• 7 teams to Premier Events
• 48-50 teams will compete at the AZ Championship
• About 20% of the teams will advance to the next level

FOUR CORNERS

• 2 teams to FIRST Championship
• 4 teams to Premier Events
• 18-19 teams will compete at the Four Corners Championship 
• About 1/3 of the teams will advance to the next level

Premier events take place all over the USA and internationally from April to July. If a team receives an invitation to a Premier event, they will have the opportunity to choose from the different event options! Find out more about Premier events HERE!

Plan your fundraising as if your team is moving on...you never know what will happen!!!

Capstone Event Preferencing

All FIRST Tech Challenge teams interested in attending the FIRST Championship presented by BAE Systems or a Premier Event are encouraged to submit their team's event preference list. Learn more about Premier Events and event preferencing on our blog.

If your team has qualified for the Arizona or Four Corners Championship, we encourage you to meet with your teams and decide on events you'd like to attend before you compete at your Championship. Plan ahead! Meet with school and district administrators and discuss travel. Consider timing of events, entry fees and deadlines, and if your team wants to fly or drive. There are no automatic placements. All teams that want to play at a capstone level event, including FIRST Championship, need to submit a preferencing list, even if only one event is on that list. Lead Coach 1 and 2 from ALL region championship teams may begin creating preferencing lists now, or select "decline invitation" if your team doesn't want to play a capstone event. Spots that become available due to teams declining will be filled by teams that have completed preferencing lists. 

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - Region Championships

If your team is done competing for the season, consider volunteering for the Championship events! We especially need referees and judges for both events. To learn more about volunteer roles, visit the FIRST Volunteer page. 

Students can volunteer in support roles as well! To sign up, login to your FIRST Dashboard and select "Volunteer." 

• Four Corners Championship: February 6 & 7, Kayenta, AZ
• Arizona Championship: February 20 & 21, Flagstaff, AZ
• Judging interviews for the AZ Championship will take place Friday evening. Judges should arrive by 5 pm Friday. 

Summit Education: 2026 Summer Programs

Summit Education hosts virtual summer programs for high-achieving students interested in STEM. In 2026, Summit will host the Summit STEM Fellowship (SSF) and Summit Research Scholars (SRS).  

• Summit STEM Fellowship (SSF): The Summit STEM Fellowship (SSF) empowers the next generation of leaders in STEM. Students explore diverse STEM fields and career pathways while learning from 50+ mentors from Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. The fellowship is a flexible 10–15 hour per week commitment, allowing students to participate alongside other summer activities.  
• Summit Research Scholars (SRS): Summit Research Scholars (SRS) helps students get started with original research by teaching core research methodologies and technical skills, from literature review and research design to Python, data science, and statistics. Students develop an original research proposal and learn how to apply research to solve real-world problems.  

Applications for Summer 2026 programs are now open. Admissions are rolling, and students are encouraged to apply early to maximize their chances of acceptance. To learn more and apply, please visit www.summiteducation.org. 

Compass Award - Event Preferencing Open NOW!

 Welcome to 2026!!

There is a lot of exciting DECODE gameplay coming up with 5 qualifiers left in Arizona before the AZ Championship, and the Four Corners Championship - the largest RezBotics tournament yet! Read on for information on finishing the season strong!

The Compass Award will be awarded at both the Arizona and Four Corners Championship events. This award requires videos prepared by the team to be submitted in advance. Compass Award submissions are due February 1 by 6:00 PM. Please see the game manual section 6 (awards) for guidelines on preparing your submissions and upload your submissions to the appropriate folder linked below by the deadline. (Please name your submission in this format: Team#MentorName. Ex: 2486RockytheSquirrel)

• FOUR CORNERS CHAMPIONSHIP COMPASS AWARD SUBMISSIONS
• ARIZONA CHAMPIONSHIP COMPASS AWARD SUBMISSIONS
• Note - these links were updated on January 12. Please use these links instead any previous sent. 

ADVANCEMENT - FIRST Championship & Premier Events!

We are excited to announce the advancement numbers for FIRST Championship and Premier Events for the 2025/2026 season!!! Advancement from these events is from the region Championships (Arizona and Four Corners). Read more details at this blog post from FTC leadership HERE!

ARIZONA

• 4 teams to FIRST Championship
• 7 teams to Premier Events
• 48-50 teams will compete at the AZ Championship
• About 20% of the teams will advance to the next level

FOUR CORNERS

• 2 teams to FIRST Championship
• 4 teams to Premier Events
• 18-19 teams will compete at the Four Corners Championship 
• About 1/3 of the teams will advance to the next level

Premier events take place all over the USA and internationally from April to July. If a team receives an invitation to a Premier event, they will have the opportunity to choose from the different event options! Find out more about Premier events HERE!

Plan your fundraising as if your team is moving on...you never know what will happen!!!

Capstone Event Preferencing

All FIRST Tech Challenge teams interested in attending the FIRST Championship presented by BAE Systems or a Premier Event are encouraged to submit their team's event preference list. Learn more about Premier Events and event preferencing on our blog.

If your team has qualified for the Arizona or Four Corners Championship, we encourage you to meet with your teams and decide on events you'd like to attend before you compete at your Championship. Plan ahead! Meet with school and district administrators and discuss travel. Consider timing of events, entry fees and deadlines, and if your team wants to fly or drive. There are no automatic placements. All teams that want to play at a capstone level event, including FIRST Championship, need to submit a preferencing list, even if only one event is on that list. Lead Coach 1 and 2 from ALL region championship teams may begin creating preferencing lists now, or select "decline invitation" if your team doesn't want to play a capstone event. Spots that become available due to teams declining will be filled by teams that have completed preferencing lists. 

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - Region Championships

If your team is done competing for the season, consider volunteering for the Championship events! We especially need referees and judges for both events. To learn more about volunteer roles, visit the FIRST Volunteer page. 

Students can volunteer in support roles as well! To sign up, login to your FIRST Dashboard and select "Volunteer." 

• Four Corners Championship: February 6 & 7, Kayenta, AZ
• Arizona Championship: February 20 & 21, Flagstaff, AZ
• Judging interviews for the AZ Championship will take place Friday evening. Judges should arrive by 5 pm Friday. 

SAGUARO BLOSSOM LIVE STREAM

 

PETRIFIED WOOD LIVE STREAM

Dean's List Deadline is 3 Days Away!!! Plus December 14 Qualifier Live Streams

Congrats to the teams that have advanced to the Arizona Championship from the Turquoise and Painted Desert Events! Good luck to the teams competing this weekend at Diamondback and Monument Valley!!

• 10246 Midnight Cicadas
• 18538 BASIS Java Beans
• 14584 Pioneer 327
• 12767 Catholic Master Builders
• 26585 Project Cobra
• 13968 Herberger Howlers 
• 6174 Automatons
• 32026 Safety Third

Dean's List Deadline - 3 days away (December 15!)

You have a student on your team, who above all others, demonstrates leadership, has an entrepreneurial spirit, and is dedicated to increasing awareness of FIRST.
FIRST^® Tech Challenge students are changing the world – help the changemaker on your team further their potential – nominate them for the Dean’s List Award. The Dean’s List Award recognizes the leaders and ambassadors from each FIRST Tech Challenge team. This recognition helps these inspiring students attract recruiters and stand out on their college applications and resumes. Read the nomination guide and start your nomination today.
Dean's List Award nominations are open and will close on Monday, December 15, 2025, for all FIRST Tech Challenge regions. 

Interviews for Arizona and Four Corners will take place remotely via the FTC Scoring System the week of January 5, 2026. 

Read more about the changes to the Dean's List Award deadlines for the 2025-2026 season, and review the nomination guide for requirements and instructions on how to nominate a deserving student on your team!

DIAMONDBACK QUALIFIER LIVE STREAM

Dean's List Nomination Deadline, Advancement Numbers and Tips from Head Referees!

Congrats to the teams that have advanced to the Arizona Championship from the Roadrunner, Red Rock, and Prickly Pear Events! Good luck to the teams competing this weekend at Turquoise and Painted Desert!!

• 10111 Herberger Javalinas
• 10523 The Dragons
• 14254 Trivium Knightlights
• 15058 Robo-Jags
• 15461 Nutz & Bolts Robotics
• 18420 Metal Masters
• 18625 Trivium Knightmares
• 24431 Sedona Scorpions
• 25620 Hexadecimal Nibble
• 26037 Cyber Tigers
• 26128 Wrightly Reconfigured Robots

Congrats also to the 16 Four Corners Teams that have competed (and advanced!) so far! 

Dean's List Deadline - 10 days away (December 15!)

You have a student on your team, who above all others, demonstrates leadership, has an entrepreneurial spirit, and is dedicated to increasing awareness of FIRST.
FIRST^® Tech Challenge students are changing the world – help the changemaker on your team further their potential – nominate them for the Dean’s List Award. The Dean’s List Award recognizes the leaders and ambassadors from each FIRST Tech Challenge team. This recognition helps these inspiring students attract recruiters and stand out on their college applications and resumes. Read the nomination guide and start your nomination today.
Dean's List Award nominations are open and will close on Monday, December 15, 2025, for all FIRST Tech Challenge regions.

Read more about the changes to the Dean's List Award deadlines for the 2025-2026 season, and review the nomination guide for requirements and instructions on how to nominate a deserving student on your team!

ADVANCEMENT - FIRST Championship & Premier Events!

We are excited to announce the advancement numbers for FIRST Championship and Premier Events for the 2025/2026 season!!! Advancement from these events is from the region Championships (Arizona and Four Corners). Read more details at this blog post from FTC leadership HERE!

• ARIZONA
• 4 teams to FIRST Championship
• 7 teams to Premier Events
• FOUR CORNERS
• 2 teams to FIRST Championship
• 4 teams to Premier Events

Premier events take place all over the USA and internationally from April to July. If a team receives an invitation to a Premier event, they will have the opportunity to choose from the different event options! Find out more about Premier events HERE!

From the Head Referees:

Great Job on a fantastic start to the DECODE Season (presented by RTX)! Qualifiers are going well and we want to just remind teams to review several rules that seem to be cropping up:

SAFETY:  We CONTINUE to see some team being negligent in safety glasses protocols (including COACHES).  Everyone on the Team is Responsible to wear safety glasses per E010.  Please re-read Rule E101 on page 27 of the Competition Manual and abide by the rule during the competition.  Teams are reminded that any tournament official observing teams disregarding E101 are expected to report to the Tournament Director or Head Referee, and we are moving forward with 1 verbal Warning to the team then escalating to a Yellow Card for G211 - Egregious or exceptional violations.  Remember that the Head Referee has the option of presenting a Yellow OR RED card, it is an option to go immediately to the RED card, (especially in cases where we continually see a team that does not follow the rules in subsequent tournaments).  Here is the bottom line:  We treat Safety Issues as critical to the success of FIRST Robotics and if teams continue to ignore E101, our next level of action is reporting to FIRST Headquarters and discussions about “removal from award consideration” per G211 paragraph 3.  This action is likely to move forward if Coaches disregard E101 warnings. 

 

MOVEMENT (After a period ends):  Please review Rules G403 and G404 about stopping motion at the end of the Periods…  Specifically,  “G403…Any powered movement of the ROBOT or any of its MECHANISMS is not allowed during the transition period between AUTO and TELEOP.”  And “G404… ROBOTS must no longer have powered movement after the end of TELEOP…” Also be sure to review the Orange Box notes… Remember this applies to all “Powered movement” to any parts or mechanisms including intake wheel, launching mechanisms, armatures…  but gravity or the inertia following shutdown is allowed.  This all goes back to what we have mentioned before about making actions “obvious to the referee”.  If we see a wheel spinning and not slowing down as it bleeds off inertia, we may assume it is still powered and penalize the alliance.

 

HUMAN PLAYERS (HP):  Here is a reminder on G431 A and B which are important rules to know and understand.

 

• The HP is the responsible party when it comes to robot interaction within the loading zone. Ensure that you are communicating clearly (and loudly if necessary) with the rest of your drive team to prevent contact. If the robot is crowding the artifacts in the loading zone that you need to access, communicate with the drive team that you need more space instead of reaching close to the robot and risking G431 fouls. 
• And a valuable Tip from the referees, the human players can hold artifacts above the field ready to load robots as they come into the loading zone as long as there are not more than 6 artifacts out of play at a time (G434).
• For G431B, ensure that it is obvious that the artifact is being dropped into the robot and do not reposition artifacts once placed in the robot. Once the artifacts is in contact with a robot, leave it and communicate with the drive team what needs to happen next.  Another tip: if you are acting as the only human player for your alliance, make sure to review where to place artifacts in your alliance partners robot. 

 

Enjoy the Holidays that are upon us and stay safe out there!

Rich, Robert, Samuel and Demian

TURQUOISE FTC QUALIFIER LIVE STREAM