FIRST Canopy Season Teaser, BIOBUZZ Game Piece Reveal & SO MANY Summer Opportunities!

 HOW EXCITED ARE WE FOR NEXT SEASON...?

FIRST Championship Results!

Congrats to all the Arizona and Four Corners FIRST teams that competed at the FIRST Championship in Houston last week!! Here are a couple of shoutouts...

• Hexadecimal Nibble - 4th seeded alliance captain in FTC Goodall Division
• Metal Masters - 2nd pick of alliance 4 in FTC Jackson Division
• Shiprock Chieftains - Judge's Award in FTC Lovelace Division
• Cobra Commanders - 1st pick of alliance 2 on FRC Johnson Division
• LAUNCH TEAM - FIRST Championship Impact Award!!!

Good luck to the Arizona and Four Corners Teams competing at the Western Edge Premier event in California at the end of May!!!

SUMMER MENTOR CONFERENCES & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

There are a number of mentor conferences for FRC and FTC coaches happening around the country, as well as FLL/FTC certified professional development. Please see the individual websites for registration information. Events are organized by date. 

• The Woodie Flowers Mentor Conference - Detroit, MI; June 20-21
• The Woodie Flowers Conference is an international mentorship conference that brings together passionate educators, volunteers, coaches, and mentors from the FIRST community. This unique event is organized by the Woodie Flowers Award recipients, with the support of Detroit-area Woodie Flowers Finalist Award recipients and FIRST Teams. The event is run as part of The Woodie Flowers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. This event is not operated by FIRST HQ.
•  
• FIRST Certified Professional Development - Fresno, CA; June 15-16
• This professional development will help you acquire or strengthen your facilitation skills for project-based learning and build holistic skills 
  such as creativity, problem-solving and teamwork in an active learning environment. Each course is led by a FIRST Certified Trainer and provides the necessary tools to bring FIRST programs to your classroom or as a structured after-school program. Certificates for continuing education or professional development credit are provided following the completion of the session.
• 
• Viva los Mentors - Las Vegas, NV; July 31 - August 2
• Connect with mentors from across the country to exchange ideas, gain real-world insights, and strengthen your team. What happens in Vegas inspires innovation everywhere.
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• New England Mentor Conference - MIT, Cambridge, MA; August 8-9
• To encourage mentor growth, conversation and connection across New England and beyond.

• California FIRST Mentor Conference - Santa Clara, CA; August 22-23
• The FIRST Mentor Conference is a 2-day event aimed at creating and growing a one-stop conference for FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) community mentors to share their experiences, best practices, and further build community. This year, 2026, will be the fourth annual FMC. This is a volunteer created and run event, not operated by FIRST HQ.

SUMMER OFF-SEASON EVENTS

• Arizona Tech Challenge - Queen Creek, AZ; June 12 - 13
• Custom rules, custom awards, up to 30 teams! Only $50 per team to compete. 

• Meadowbot Mayhem - Las Vegas, NV; June 13 & 14
• MeadowBot Mayhem is MeadowBots' summer off-season FIRST Tech Challenge event. Join us for an exciting weekend of robotics competition, learning, and fun at The Meadows School. Whether you're a seasoned team or brand new to FTC, this is your chance to keep the season alive and sharpen your skills before the next competition year.

• RTI Off Season Event - West Hills, CA; August 1-2
• Last year, FTC national teams from Romania, Canada, China and Kazakhstan had already confirmed their participation. We strongly recommend your team to participate in this event. The more teams we have the more we can show the world what we do and the more fun we can have doing it.

Did everyone see the GAME PIECE REVEAL FOR 2026/2027?!?!

If you weren't able to make it to the FIRST Championship, we wanted to highlight some exciting news that was announced during the da Vinci finals!

Not only did we reveal the 2026-2027 scoring element, we also announced some new resources to help teams prepare for the BIOBUZZ season.

Check out our blog, which includes further details about the scoring element, StarterBot resources, and how to purchase scoring elements and pre-order game sets for next season!

In addition, this includes NEW! FIRST Tech Challenge Skill Builders: educational content and challenge specifically designed to guide teams as they explore the Game Preview content.

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE BIOBUZZ KICKOFF SEPTEMBER 12, 2026!!!!