Sept. 12th Kickoff Events; Sign-up is Open! l FiM FTC Preview Event, Oct 3 in Saline-Reg is Open! l Fall Event Dates l Season Reg l YPP Training l Youth Team Reg l Key Dates l League Sign-up Due 8/30 l Prelim Competition Manual Posted l FiM FTC Event Fee $125 l Rookie Team Grants l Grants l 99h Grant Usage Deadline l Rookie Bootcamp Survey l FTC Resources l BIOBUZZ Game Elements
SEPT. 12th FTC SEASON KICKOFF; SIGN-UP IS OPEN!
The 2026-27 FTC season BIOBUZZ kickoff is Sept. 12th! FIRST HQ broadcast will be 12pm (noon), featuring the reveal of the season’s new game.
Though attending a kickoff event is optional, There will be a record 20 kickoff events in various locations around the state! All will feature a reveal of the BIOBUZZ playing field and will include training and info sessions for teams. Plus, best of all, the opportunity to connect with area teams!
TO SIGN UP: Visit the FiM FTC EVENTS site page for a list of area FTC kickoff events. Click on the event “Name” for the sign-up link. Sign-up is done directly with the event host and not with FIRST in Michigan FTC. Kickoff events are free of charge.
If you don’t quite have a team formed yet, coaches and/or prospective coaches/team members/mentors are welcome to sign-up to attend an area kickoff event. It’s a great way to jumpstart the season and partake in in-person learning and networking opportunities!
WEEK 0, FTC PREVIEW EVENT OCT 3 in SALINE! DATE CORRECTED.
CORRECTION: Date of the event is Saturday, Oct. 3rd.
FIRST in Michigan FTC is excited to announce that we will be hosting a Week 0, FTC Preview Event of the BIOBUZZ game on Oct. 3rd in Saline! FIRST HQ reached out to us with this request as an opportunity to shake down the game and see how rule adjustments play out in practice, giving them time to make any necessary changes before official events begin. HQ personnel will be on site, including a few Global Key Volunteers.
Think of this as a scrimmage opportunity! For us, this is a great chance for teams (max 36) to gain early game-play experience, test new concepts and prototypes, and give team members valuable competition experience early in the season. Robots do not need to be 100% game ready – a rolling chassis and a spirit of adventure are all that is needed!
To register for this event: Sign up is first come-first served.
Specifics:
- The Preview Event will be a full-scale event with inspections, judging, qualification matches, playoffs, and awards.
- There will not be an advancement component to the event.
- The event fee is WAIVED, provided the registered team participates in the event.
- Teams will be responsible for their own food/travel costs for the event.
- Participation in the Preview Event does not satisfy the competition participation requirement that accompanies many grants, as it is considered a non-official event.
What we need:
- 36 intrepid teams (registered for the season with FIRST HQ) with robots. Event sign-up info below.
- Volunteers across all roles. The event is available for volunteer sign-up through your FIRST Dashboard.
FALL EVENT LIST POSTED
Please revisit the fall 2026-27 events posted on the FiM FTC EVENTS site page, as there have been some adjustments: https://firstinmichigan.us/FTC/events/.
Things to note:
- There will be some flux to the list as schools are still finalizing fall activity calendars, which could impact event dates/locations.
- Additional qualifiers may be scheduled during weeks with an “Open” slot.
Hosting is a great way to have an event close to home! It is also great outreach for an FRC team and allows more teams to play twice. Hosts retain the $125 per team event fee which comprises the budget for the event. FiM FTC tries to balance event locations on a given weekend to accommodate as many teams as possible and ease the crunch on local volunteers.
Information on hosting a FIRST in Michigan FTC event can be found in this Google folder: FIRST in Michigan FTC Event Organization. Resources include equipment list, sample budget, planning guides, schedule, layouts, etc.
2026-27 SEASON REGISTRATION IS OPEN
Team registration for the 2026–27 season is now open! Thanks for your patience as HQ completes the registration system migration. There are still some glitches, but HQ is applying fixes on a rolling basis.
If you have encountered an issue with the reg system that you’d like to report, please use the FIRST HQ Help Center Form and include as much detail and a screenshot if possible (I had to upload the image to Google Drive and then copy/paste the link).
It is key to register your team as soon as possible so that enough events are planned in support. Teams must be fully registered for the current season to register for FiM FTC competitions.
The $350 FIRST HQ season registration fee can be paid via the newly revamped Storefront accessible from the Team Dashboard through firstinspires.org. HQ has increased the season reg fee by $25 this season.
Note on reg fee payment: If the team is paying the season registration by credit card, there is no need to wait until the Financial Guarantor is in place. Sales tax is not assessed on the $350 FIRST HQ season registration fee. If the team is paying by PO or ordering product and needs sales tax exemption, then the team will need to wait for the Financial Guarantor verification process to be completed by FIRST HQ.
FIRST YOUTH PROTECTION – NEW TRAINING MODULE REQUIREMENT
There have been some questions about the new FIRST Youth Protection (YPP) Training, which now includes an additional training course. Details about YPP can be found at this link: https://training.firstinspires.org/courses/youth-protection.
Reminder that the Youth Protection Clearance (background screening) aspect can take 3-5 business days to be completed. Please encourage those in key roles for your team to submit for their screening now, as processing time increases as the season progresses.
Lead Coach 1 and 2:
- Lead Coaches 1 & 2 are required to obtain Youth Protection Clearance (background screening), including completion of annual FIRST Youth Protection training
- Teams will not be able to access youth rosters unless both Lead Coach 1 and Lead Coach 2 have completed all Youth Protection requirements.
Team Mentors (those registered with team):
- All team Mentors are required to obtain Youth Protection Clearance, including completion of annual FIRST Youth Protection training.
- YPP Clearance status for mentors will not affect Lead Coach system permissions.
Team Administrators
- Team Administrators are optional team roles with the ability to register the team and manage financials.
- Team Administrators who want to manage the youth roster (new functionality) must complete the applicable Youth Protection Clearance.
Team Volunteers
- Team Volunteers are optional team roles that require Youth Protection Clearance.
Youth Mentors
- Youth Mentors are optional team roles. Youth Protection Training is currently encouraged, but not required, as youth mentors do not hold adult role responsibilities or have administrative permissions.
YOUTH TEAM MEMBER REGISTRATION – REQUIRED BEFORE COMPETITION
Youth registration for the 2026–2027 season is now open through the Express Enrollment application in the FIRST Dashboard. This streamlined process allows parents/guardians to register youth participants in just a few steps from any device.
Lead Coaches who have completed FIRST Youth Protection Screening can generate a web link or QR code in the Dashboard to share with parents/guardians. This is best done earlier in the season before heading into competition “crunch time”. Students must all be registered members of the team before the team competes.
RECOMMENDED: Have a “Get registered” themed team meeting! Set up a laptop or two and invite parents/guardians to come in to work through the process. Have someone on hand who is familiar with navigating the HQ system to assist.
Please note:
- Paper Consent and Release Forms should only be used in cases of demonstrable hardship (no device, no internet access, or a significant language barrier).
For more information, see the Youth Registration System Walkthrough or the Field Development Youth Registration space https://www.firstinspires.org/programs/youth-registration
UPCOMING KEY DATES
- Sept. 12: 2026-27 FTC Season Kickoff (full BIOBUZZ game revealed).
- Sept. 29: Round 1 Event Registration anticipated to open.
- Oct. 3: Week 0 Saline Preview Event! Full scale event.
- Oct. 19: Earliest event date for Qualifiers/League Meets.Oct.
- Oct. 31/Nov 2: Week 1 of Qualifiers
- Dec. 11/12 or 12/13: FiM FTC States’ events.
LEAGUE SIGN-UP FOR 2026-27 IS OPEN
If you are a FTC league team wishing to continue with league play OR your team would like to join a league for the first time, please complete the linked form below to indicate your 2026–27 FTC league participation intent by Aug. 30th. More information on FTC league play: FiM FTC League Overview.
To sign-up to participate in a 2026-27 league: FTC League Sign-Up Form (link)
PRELIM COMPETITION MANUAL IS AVAILABLE
The preliminary Competition Manual is available to teams at https://ftc-resources.firstinspires.org/ftc/game/manual. This is the Queen Bee of all FTC documents!
HQ will issue Team Updates to the Competition Manual throughout the season. Teams are responsible for staying informed, so bookmark the FIRST Tech Challenge Game & Season Materials page and check it regularly for the latest updates and changes to the FTC season.
The prelim version of the Competition Manual includes most of the non-game-specific information for this season so that FIRST Tech Challenge teams can get an early start on planning. Check out the new content, especially Section 1 which outlines the Spirit of the Competition and what it means to be a strong competitor while also treating one another with respect and kindness. All teams should read and understand the Framework of Behaviors so they can apply them directly while playing BIOBUZZ. This release will have placeholders for all the season specific information, which will be released at kickoff on September 12th.
So make a beeline for this document and share it with your team members and mentors!
FiM EVENT FEE INCREASE
The FiM FTC event fee, remitted directly to the hosts, will increase from $100 to $125 this season. The FiM FTC event fee has remained unchanged since 2016. The event fees are used to cover the direct costs of running the event (rentals, volunteer food, trophies, other consumables) and supporting a quality experience for participating teams.
STARTING A NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL FTC TEAM
Start a new middle school FTC team in just 3 steps: https://firstinmichigan.
FIRST HQ HARDSHIP GRANT
FIRST HQ is again offering its FTC Hardship Grant. The process is that FiM FTC must nominate a team that has an established need for this grant. FiM FTC will prioritize newly forming (rookie), school-affiliated middle school FTC teams for nomination. This grant will then work in conjunction with the FiM FTC Rookie Team Grant, as in the past, to 100% cover a newly forming school-based team’s season registration fee and reusable robot kit of parts.
GRANTS
New this season: FIRST in Michigan will begin paying FiM-administered grants by ACH versus check. When applying for grants, please be ready with your school’s/501c3’s Financial Institution information:
- Financial Institution Name
- Routing Number
- Account Number
- Checking or Savings Account choice
Payment by check will still be possible, but is not the preferred choice.
Stay tuned to the FIRST HQ Grants site page as well as the FiM FTC site Grants page for available team grants.
- FIRST HQ Grants page: https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/team-grants.
- FiM FTC Grants: https://firstinmichigan.us/FTC/grants/
2025-26 99h STATE GRANT FUNDING USAGE DEADLINE, SEPT. 30
Teams awarded the 99h MDE State Grant in 2025-26: Per legislation, any awarded funds for the 2025-26 season must be expended by September 30, 2026. Team Award funds can only be used by the team to which they were awarded per the grant’s governance. This grant is administered by the MDE and not FIRST in Michigan.
- Reach out to your fiscal partner regarding accessing awarded funds. 99h grant awards are posted at this link: https://www.techplan.
org/edtech-initiatives/rdi/ competitive-99h-robotics- competition-grant/. - Ways to use leftover funding:
- Pay the team’s 2026-2027 FIRST HQ season registration fee of $350 .
- Pre-order a set of the season’s game elements through AndyMark.
- Purchase items from the team’s “wish list” like extra batteries, linear slides, swerve drive components, etc.
The 99h State Grant line item has been approved for 2026-27! The same funding levels were maintained for both public and non-public school-based robotics teams. The grant is anticipated to open for application in October, 2026. Stay tuned to team eblasts for more info!
ROOKIE TEAM BOOTCAMP – SURVEY
FTC 6294 Atomic Toads are offering a bootcamp for rookie FTC teams across Michigan. This program would include an orientation session followed by a comprehensive plan covering the following areas: Programming, Outreach, Design, Build, Team Structure. The session can be adapted for in-person or virtual.
Please fill out the form below to indicate areas of interest as well as format preference: Rookie Team Bootcamp Survey (link). The last question in the survey is where you can pose questions.
FIRST FTC SEASON RESOURCES
StarterBot Base
Once again, REV Robotics, goBilda, AndyMark, and Studica have created StarterBots which can be built from their Robot Starter kits. These StarterBots are intended to give teams a foundation to build on during their design process as well as help teams get their first experience playing BIOBUZZ as quickly as possible. The full StarterBot designs will not be released until Kickoff, alongside the rest of the game information.
To support teams who are using the Game Preview to guide their pre-season learning, each of the robot partners has also published a “StarterBot Base” design. For BIOBUZZ, each StarterBot Base consists of a drivetrain and intake which will be used as part of the full StarterBot builds.
Skill Builders
To further support teams as they explore these foundational aspects of BIOBUZZ, FIRST Education has launched a series of activities hosted on FIRST Training, including FIRST Tech Challenge Skill Builders. This content is designed to guide teams as they experiment with the new pollen scoring element and learn about the robot challenges unveiled in the Game Preview. These Skill Builders include learning content, challenges, and fun robot mini-games that are directly applicable to BIOBUZZ and the upcoming season. Teams can build driving skills, refine intake systems, and tackle autonomous challenges to level up their learning!
BIOBUZZ GAME SET PRE-ORDER THROUGH ANDYMARK
Teams looking to spend down 2025-26 grant funds or those wanting to get ahead of the “game”, AndyMark is accepting pre-orders for BIOBUZZ full or partial sets of game elements: https://andymark.com/collections/first-tech-challenge-2026-2027/products/ftc-2026-27-preorders. Pre-orders will ship after kickoff on Sept. 12th.
Teams will also be able to order BIOBUZZ game sets (full and partial) through the FTC Storefront beginning Sept. 12th but the Storefront will not accept pre-orders.
- Full Set: $599
- Partial Set (red or blue): $399
- Prices do not include shipping/handling
