Teams in the District Model play two district qualifier events for their initial registration fee. Learn more about FIRST Robotics Competition team registration fees on the FIRST website. In addition to traditional awards, teams at these events earn District Points that rank them in the district. This ranking is used to advance teams to the District Championship. Teams cannot advance directly to the FIRST Championship from a district qualifier event.

Teams in the District Model play two district qualifier events for their initial registration fee. Learn more about FIRST Robotics Competition team registration fees on the FIRST website.

District Model Teams have the opportunity to compete at two smaller-scale District Events as part of their season registration. Some District Teams will earn enough ranking points at these District events to earn their way to the District Championship Event. Each District sends a representative number of Teams to the FIRST Championship through the District Championship Event (see Championship Eligibility Criteria for details). District Teams are allowed to compete at Regional Events, under some restrictions. Regional Teams compete at one, usually larger-scale, Regional Event as part of their season registration. From each of these Regional Events, a few teams qualify for the FIRST Championship (see Championship Eligibility Criteria for details). Regional Teams are currently not allowed to compete at District Events. Teams are assigned to the District or Regional model based solely on their location. Any Team that is not in a District geography is automatically a Regional model team.

For 2026, nothing is changing regarding the District Model of play. This means that teams from areas in the Regional Model cannot play at Wisconsin events. Beyond 2026, FRC staff is looking into working on a way for Districts to open capacity to all teams outside their District, not just through inter-district play.

At this time, FIRST Wisconsin does not expect to need teams to provide a minimum number of volunteers for any event. If volunteers are needed, FIRST Wisconsin will communicate early and often with teams. The best way to avoid requiring teams to provide volunteers for an event is by sharing information about FIRST Wisconsin volunteer opportunities with your community. We’ve found that the best volunteers are those who were personally invited—whether they’re parents, alumni, teachers, or local supporters. Your help in spreading the word makes a big difference in ensuring events run smoothly and students have an amazing experience.

The transition to the District Model of Play creates exciting opportunities to expand the number and types of volunteer roles available. With more events being held across the state, there’s a growing need for individuals to help deliver high-quality, consistent experiences for teams. New and expanded roles include: 🎟️ Event Managers – Help oversee the smooth operation of events by supporting team check-in, pit administration, volunteer coordination, match flow, and awards ceremonies. Great for those who enjoy logistics, teamwork, and ensuring everything runs smoothly behind the scenes. 🎥 A/V Directors and Crew – Support technical production, including field displays, livestreaming, audio, and video. Ideal for individuals with experience or interest in tech, streaming, video, or event production. 📸 Media Room Volunteers – Collaborate with student media teams to gather highlight videos, manage image uploads (e.g., SmugMug), and help document the event. Perfect for those who enjoy photography, videography, content organization, or storytelling. 🎙️ Show and Production Leads – Coordinate behind-the-desk interviews, live commentary, and strategy discussions during events to engage audiences and showcase team stories. A great fit for individuals who enjoy public speaking, analyzing game strategy, or creating engaging content. These roles offer meaningful ways for individuals to contribute their talents while elevating the overall event experience for teams and spectators.

Absolutely! In fact, individuals who are new to FIRST, unaffiliated with a team, and interested in judging are among the most valuable volunteers we seek to recruit. These volunteers bring fresh perspectives, unbiased insight, and diverse professional experiences that strengthen the judging process and help celebrate student achievement across all programs.

Currently FIRST Wisconsin projects needing four district events to serve our teams in the state. These four events will be spread throughout the state. The bid process will help facilitate the disbursement of events and the creation of local Event Planning Committees who will support the events (similar to Regional Planning Committees but with the benefit of additional local control). The goal of the Intent to Bid is to identify 3-4 host sites in each 120mi circle, which makes up roughly the four main concentrations areas of teams in Wisconsin. In the event 3-4 host sites are not submitted for a region, the FIRST Wisconsin Competition will seek out additional options as needed to reach that threshold.

This is in process, however we know the events will take place between March 4th and April 18th. FIRST Wisconsin is conducting an open bid process to identify competition sites for the 2025-2026 FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition season. Sites for both programs must be identified and contracted no later than August 1st, 2025, to allow teams time to register for FY26 events in September of 2025. Event locations will be shared with teams at the end of August and will be publicly posted on the FIRST website at the beginning of September. If you believe you know of a location that may work, please review the FY26 FIRST Wisconsin Bid Process to learn more about requirements for competition sites and the event timeline. Complete the FIRST Wisconsin Intent to Bid for next steps and additional information. If you have any questions please reach out to the Competition Committee via eventplanning@firstinspireswi.org. Planning for multiple seasons ahead of time is incredibly valuable for planning purposes. If your venue allows for multi-year contracts or scheduling of events multiple years in advance, FIRST Wisconsin is open to those discussions.

Generally a District Event runs a 2.5 day schedule. The example Event Schedule is run as follows: Day 0.5 5:00pm - 9:00pm - Pits Open, Inspection, Practice Rounds. Day 1 8:00am - 10:30am - Pits Open, Inspection, Practice Rounds. 9:00am - 9:30am - Drivers & Safety Meeting 10:30am - 11:00am - Opening Ceremonies 11:00am - 1:00pm - Qualification Matches 1:00pm - 2:00pm - Lunch 2:00pm - 7:00pm - Qualification Matches 8:00pm - Pits Close Day 2 8:00am - Pits Open 9:00am - 9:30am - Opening Ceremonies 9:30am - 12:15am - Qualification Matches 12:30pm - 1:00pm - Alliance Selections 1:00pm - 2:00pm - Lunch 2:00pm - 5:30pm - Playoff Matches & Awards Ceremony 6:00pm - Pits Close Actual schedules from 2025 District Events: FIRST PNW Peachtree FIRST North Carolina FIRST Canada

Yes. All teams will register for their first and second events in Wisconsin during the standard registration period. After that, teams may choose to participate in a third event, though it will not count toward their District Points. After the second round of event registration, teams may: Register or waitlist for a third Wisconsin District event – $1,000 Register or waitlist for an Inter-District event (hosted by another District) – $1,000 Register or waitlist for a traditional Regional event – $1,000 💡 Important Note: Teams do not earn points at their third (or later) District events, nor at Inter-District or Regional events. Only a team’s first two home district events count toward their total District Points and qualification for the District Championship. These additional events are a great opportunity for teams to gain more on-field experience, refine their strategy, and prepare for higher levels of play.

Each team receives two plays, so if you have 70 teams, you need to provide 140 spots to play. Using an event average of 36 teams, you'd need to hold 3.889 events; rounded up to four events. A minimum event size would be about 28 teams, a maximum event size would be about 42 teams. FIRST Wisconsin is expecting to run four district events and a single division District Championship in FY26.

Rank your preference from highest to lowest for all events. Include the waitlist as an option. As an example, using the four corners of the state here is a potential schedule: Week 1 - NW Event Week 2 - NO EVENT Week 3 - NE Event Week 4 - SW Event Week 5 - SE Event Week 6 - NO EVENT Week 7 - District Championship The list of your preferences could prioritize geography (i.e. distance to travel from your location or minimizing the number of hotel rooms needed) or time-frame (i.e. the closest event may be during spring break and you'd like to avoid it). An example ranking of events could be: NE Event NE Event Waitlist SW Event SW Event Waitlist NW Event NW Event Waitlist SE Event SE Event Waitlist Only selecting one option does not improve a team's chances to get into a specific event.

Teams in the District Model play two district qualifier events for their initial registration fee. Teams at these events earn District Points that rank them in the district. This ranking is used to advance teams to the Wisconsin District Championship. The Wisconsin District Championship will advance the three members of the winning alliance and Cultural Award winners (FIRST Impact Award, Engineering Inspiration, and Rookie All-Star) to the FIRST Championship (a total of six merit-based qualifying slots). The remainder of Wisconsin's FIRST Championship slots (projected to be a similar number to Indiana based on the size of region) will use the standard district allocation process (see section 11.5 of the Game Manual for details). As an example: In 2025, with 71 teams, FIRST Indiana Robotics received 12 allocated FIRST Championship Slots and advanced 12 teams. District teams neither earn points for their actions at any Regionals, nor are eligible for any FIRST Championship qualifying benefits at that Regional (awards, etc.).

Teams earn points based on qualification round performance, alliance captain spot, draft order acceptance, playoff advancement, judged team awards, and team age.

District teams are ranked throughout the season based on the points they earn at the first 2 home District events they attend, as well as at their District Championship. Points earned at District Championships are multiplied by 3 and then added to points earned at District events, to determine the final season point total for the team.

The District Points model and method for advancement is detailed in Section 11.1 of the 2025 Game Manual, additional information is included below: District teams are ranked throughout the season based on the points they earn at the first 2 home District events they attend, as well as at their District Championship. Points are awarded to teams as follows: Points earned at District Championships are multiplied by 3 and then added to points earned at District events, to determine the final season point total for the team. If there is a tie in the season point total between teams, the higher ranked team will be determined using additional sorting criteria (see Table 11-2 District team sort criteria). Qualification Round Performance: The calculation of Qualification performance points is done using the equation (an inverse error function) in Table 11-1. The equation utilizes the following variables: − R – the qualification rank of the team at the event at the conclusion of Qualification MATCHES (as reported by FMS) − N – the number of FIRST Robotics Competition teams participating in the Qualification rounds at the event − Alpha (α) – a static value (1.07) used to standardize the distribution of points at events This formula generates an approximately normal distribution of Qualification Round Performance points at an event, based on rank, with most teams getting a moderate number of points, and fewer teams getting the highest or lowest numbers of points available. Alliance Selection Results: This attribute measures both individual team qualification round seeding performance and recognition by peers. ALLIANCE CAPTAINS are recognized based on their qualification round seeding rank. This rank is a result of the rules of the game, which typically incorporate several team performance attributes, and are designed to eliminate ties in rank. Non-ALLIANCE CAPTAINS are rewarded based on peer recognition. To be invited to join an ALLIANCE, a team’s peers have decided that the team has attributes that are desirable. Giving points for ALLIANCE selection also supports come-from-behind teams. A team taking several MATCHES to optimize their performance may be recognized as a late bloomer by a top seeded team, even if that performance isn’t reflected in the rankings because of poor performance in early MATCHES. These points also have the potential to recognize teams employing a minority strategy with their ROBOT. Teams with unique or divergent ROBOT capabilities that complement the strengths of other ALLIANCE members may be selected to fill a strategic niche. Note also that ALLIANCE CAPTAINS are given the same number of points as the team drafted in the same sequence. For example, the third ALLIANCE CAPTAIN gets the same number of points as the third draft. Numerical analysis supports the idea that ALLIANCE CAPTAINS are about as strong in ROBOT performance as equivalently drafted teams. As an additional minor benefit, awarding the same points for ALLIANCE CAPTAINS and equivalent drafts lubricates the acceptance of draft offers between ALLIANCE CAPTAINS, which gives teams out of the top 8 the chance to experience being ALLIANCE CAPTAINS themselves. Playoff Performance: This attribute measures team performance as part of an ALLIANCE. Teams that advance to at least MATCH 12 earn Double Elimination (DE) Points per the formula below, where β is defined in Table 11-4. In most cases, unless a BACKUP is recruited, a team plays 100% of the DE MATCHES won by their ALLIANCE, thus their DE Points simply equal β. If a team does not play 100% of the DE MATCHES won by their ALLIANCE, their DE Points equal their β value multiplied by the percentage of DE MATCHES won by their ALLIANCE in which that team participated. If the result is not a whole number, the value is rounded up to the nearest integer. Teams on the winning ALLIANCE are awarded additional Finals Points, which are 5 points for each Finals MATCH won and in which the team participated, up to a maximum of 10 points. The maximum number of Playoff Performance Points a team can earn is 30 (20 DE points + 10 Finals Points). Awards This attribute measures team performance with respect to team awards judged at the event. The points earned for team awards in this system are not intended to capture the full value of the award to the team winning the award, or to represent the full value of the award to FIRST. In many ways, the team’s experience in being selected for awards, especially the FIRST Impact Award, the Engineering Inspiration Award, and the Rookie All Star Award (which is optional for District Championship events), is beyond measure, and could not be fully captured in its entirety by any points-based system. Points are being assigned to awards in this system only to help teams recognize that FIRST continues to be “More than Robots®,” with the emphasis on our cultural awards, and to assist in elevating award-winning teams above non-award-winning teams in the ranking system. Teams only get points for team awards judged at the event. If an award is not judged, is not for a team (e.g. the Dean’s List Award) or is not judged at the event (e.g. Safety Animation Award, sponsored by UL), no points are earned. Team Age This attribute recognizes the difficulty in being a rookie or relatively new team. Points are awarded to 2024 and 2025 rookie teams in recognition of the unique challenges teams face in those early years, and to increase the chance that they will make it to the District Championship to compete with their ROBOTS. Like our dedicated Rookie awards, these additional points are intended to recognize and motivate newer participants in FIRST Robotics Competition. These points are awarded once at the beginning of the season. Rookie year is calculated based on the year in which FIRST recognizes the team as a rookie.

Either when they win the event or earn an advancing award at the District Championship or within 30mins of the end of the District Championship award ceremony. FRC Locks is a useful, community-built, tool to determine how close or far a team is from advancing to the FIRST Championship.