FIRST Robotics Competition is the highest level of FIRST and high-school student participants call it “the hardest fun you’ll ever have.”
Under strict rules, limited time and resources, teams of students are challenged to raise funds, design a team "brand," hone teamwork skills, and build and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors.
Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team.
START A TEAM
FIRST Robotics Competition gives high school students and their adult mentors the opportunity to work and create together to solve a common problem. Teams of students are challenged to design, build, and program robots and compete for awards, while they also create a team identity, raise funds, hone teamwork skills, and advance respect and appreciation for STEM within the local community.
Beyond game play itself, students are rewarded by team achievements – in robot design and programming, demonstrating community outreach, Gracious Professionalism®, and the ability to overcome obstacles. Winning is always secondary to the quality of the overall experience.
Interested in starting a team?
Email our FIRST Robotics Competition Program Delivery Partner
Chris Cortez at Chris.Cortez@firstsouthcarolina.org
2025-2026 REBUILT
In REBUILT™ presented by Haas, a new challenge releasing January 10, 2026, FIRST® Robotics Competition teams will use engineering skills and re-imagine the past.
Every artifact we uncover holds a story. Each tool, each innovation, each work of art connects us to the people and ideas that came before us. Using STEM skills and teamwork, today we can dig deeper into discoveries than ever before.