Georgia FIRST Tech Challenge

2026 XRP Summer Robotics Camps!

Get ready for an action-packed summer of robotics exploration, coding, and competition! Georgia FIRST Tech Challenge, through a grant provided by Google, is thrilled to announce our XRP Summer Camps, running throughout June and July. Designed for curious minds and focused on middle school-age students, these camps leverage the cutting-edge XRP (Experiential Robotics Platform) to give students hands-on experience with real-world robotics. The camp seeks to engage middle school-age students by developing their block-based coding skills while learning Python. Through engaging missions, students gain STEM skills while working as a team. Whether your student is a complete beginner or a seasoned coder looking to sharpen their skills, our summer tracks provide the perfect arena to learn, iterate, and innovate.

Our summer camps are free for participants and held across the state from June through July to fit your family's busy schedule. Each session is packed with mentor-led challenges, collaborative team-building, and high-energy robot matches. The Experiential Robotics Platform (XRP) is a game-changer for STEM education. It scales from simple, block-based coding up to advanced autonomous navigation, making it the perfect bridge for students transitioning into FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) or FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).

For more information about locations and dates, check out

2026 XRP Summer Robotics Camps — GeorgiaFIRST Robotics The XRP robotics camp is a summer program that allows student campers to explore and develop their coding skills. Participants use the XRP robotics platform to program their own robots to navigate unpredictable environments .    The camp seeks to engage middle school-age students b

Don't forget to submit your questions for the virtual Head Ref Q&A happening at the GA FIRST Symposium this Saturday, September 13th @ 11:00! Deadline to get your questions in is Thursday, September 11th. Just scan the QR code below to access the Google doc to submit your questions.
https://forms.gle/ufBoYYsn8q6Lww6K7

To all FTC coaches - don't miss your chance to celebrate your team's student role model!

Coaches, Mark your Calendars for the New FIRST Tech Challenge Dean’s List Award Deadline We're streamlining your FIRST Tech Challenge Dean’s List Award nominations with a single global deadline. Learn about the updated process and key dates for the 2025-2026 season.

Hey everyone! Check out the Competition Manual preview to find out what's new with advancement, awards, and robot construction rules for the upcoming season. Just a bit more than one more month until kickoff!

Competition Manual Preview Release Preview the FIRST® Tech Challenge Competition Manual for the DECODE™ season, featuring new awards, rule updates, and weekly team updates starting September 6th. Get ready to DECODE!

A lot of changes this season on how teams advance from level to level. Take a look!

Advancement & FIRST Championship Update Discover the new advancement system for FIRST Tech Challenge 2025-2026 season, designed to reward well-rounded teams and expand opportunities for success.

We're so excited that we're just 6 weeks away from the FIRST Tech Challenge Decode kickoff on September 6th! While we wait, we've got some news for you about this year's kickoff in Georgia.

Instead of having our usual one (or two) kickoff locations, we are going to have six (maybe even seven!) kickoff locations this year throughout the state. Many of these kickoff events will be hosted by our league coordinators, and each kickoff location will have a field set up for you to see and touch. Please be on the lookout for more information on kickoff locations and sign-ups that we'll be sharing in a couple of weeks.

Another change is that we are not planning to do our usual workshops on the morning of kickoff. Instead, we are going to let you study the Competition Manual for a week and then hold an all-virtual Symposium the following week (Sept 13) where we will present multiple workshops throughout the day.

Looking forward to seeing you all on Sept 6 and then again on Sept 13 to get this season to the best start ever!

FIRST AGE 2025-2026 Season - FLL Unearthed - FTC Decode - FRC Rebuilt

Google Grant for Georgia FTC Teams

GeorgiaFIRST, with support from Google, is excited to offer a grant to support FIRST Tech Challenge teams for the 2025-2026 school year. Google's priority with this funding is to reduce barriers and increase FIRST Tech Challenge participation of middle school-aged students who are under resourced or have been traditionally underrepresented in STEM.

The Grant is open to Rookie as well as Veteran teams that have middle school age students on their team and meet one of several other criteria.

Learn more about the grant offering and apply for funding for your team here:https://teameventreg.org/GA/FTC/GoogleGrantInfo2025.pdf

FIRST Tech Challenge SDK Sound Effects Competition FIRST Tech Challenge seeks community-inspired sound effects to replace current ones in the SDK. Submit original sounds by June 8, 2025, to shape the future experience.

Help shape the future of FIRST Tech Challenge by sharing your feedback on team advancement, judging, robot construction, and more. Your voice matters!

FIRST Tech Challenge Community – We Want Your Thoughts! Join us in shaping the future of FIRST Tech Challenge by sharing your feedback on team advancement, judging, robot construction, and more. Your voice matters!