Like other team activities, FIRST LEGO League has basic ground rules. Failure to abide by these rules could result in ineligibility for awards at a tournament or other consequences deemed necessary by judges, referees, tournament organisers, FIRST LEGO League partners, Headquarters, or their designated representatives.

General Rules

Teams, coaches and other supporters must demonstrate the Core Values in their actions and activities. Throughout the season, teams need access to the following materials:

  • A LEGO® Education SPIKETM Prime or LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Robot Set
  • Computer or tablet with software to program the robot. (Laptop is recommended.) LEGO Education software can be downloaded from LEGOEducation.com/downloads.

Throughout the season, teams need access to the following season-specific materials, which will be delivered after registration:

  • Challenge Set
  • The season Engineering Notebook and Team Meeting Guide

The following are also needed and are available on firstlegoleague.org:

  • Mission Model Build Instructions (released August 4 of the season year)
  • Missions, Robot Game Rulebook, Field Setup (released August 4 of the season year)
  • Challenge (released at noon ET on August 4 of the Challenge season year)

Competition Rules

Teams can participate either through Class Pack, when the sessions will be delivered during curriculum time and the tournament will be held at school; or by registering as a separate team and competing at a qualifying event. Class Pack teams can advance to qualifying events but must register specifically to do so. These additional rules apply to teams competing in qualifying events:

  • A competitive team consists of a minimum of two (2) and a maximum of ten (10) children. Proper adult supervision is required as described in the FIRST Youth Protection Policy.
  • A team must be registered and fully paid in their national registration system to sign up for official events. Additional event fees may apply.
  • Team members are between the minimum and maximum age allowed in their region. **
  • All work presented at an official event is the work of the children on the team.
  • All team members attending an event are required to participate in the judging session, and be present as a team at the Robot Game matches.

**A Partner may approve an individual’s participation request below or above the age range due to special circumstances or needs.

Award Rules

A competitive team must meet these additional criteria to be eligible for awards and/or advancement at an official event.

  • Teams are at their first official event of each tournament level for the season. For example, teams are only eligible for awards at the first qualifier they compete in each season.
  • Team members’ work must conform to the parameters and rules outlined in the Challenge overview, Engineering Notebook and Robot Game Rulebook.

Consequences

FIRST® gives authority to volunteers staffing FIRST LEGO League Challenge official events to interpret and implement the Participation Rules, guided by global FIRST LEGO League Challenge training materials.

  • Teams, coaches and supporters at official events are expected to demonstrate the Core Values.
    • Individuals interfering with, excessively instructing, prompting or heckling a team or volunteer may be asked to leave.
    • Severe infractions of these rules may result in a team’s dismissal from the event. FIRST LEGO League Challenge official event volunteers are provided training to identify and respond to these situations (See FIRST Youth Protection Policy).
  • Individuals and/or teams who fail to abide by the Participation Rules may be ineligible for awards at a tournament.