Hi Team NUMBER,

Congratulations on qualifying for the 2026 FIRST^® Championship presented by BAE Systems. We are so glad your team is joining us!

We have some important FIRST Championship information to share with your team as everyone gets ready to travel to Houston, Texas, at the end of April.

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

🤖 FIRST Championship Housing and Badge Registration.
🤖 Make Sure Lead Coach Mentor 1 & 2 Information is Up to Date.
🤖 Accessible Seating and Pits.
🤖 Volunteer Opportunities.
🤖 Robot Shipping.
🤖 Event Security.
🤖 FIRST^® Tech Challenge Judging Changes.
🤖 FIRST Tech Challenge da Vinci Changes.
🤖 FIRST Tech Challenge Coaches Webinar.

We have compiled information specific to FIRST Tech Challenge teams including the public schedule, queuing details, practice fields, layouts, and more!

We’ll post updates often, so check back periodically for new information.

Teams can also review FIRST Championship information applicable to all attendees and the FIRST Championship Event Guide for information about badging, conferences, Innovation Faire, and more!

FIRST Championship Housing and Badge Registration:
FIRST^® requires all teams competing at Championship to book housing accommodations within designated hotel blocks to compete at the event.

FIRST partnered with ConferenceDirect to offer over 200 pre-approved hotels, ensuring accessibility and availability for all qualified teams.

All team members attending must participate in the hotel program and be listed on the team's rooming / badging registration list prior to the start of the competition.

Upon qualification, your team will receive an invitation from ConferenceDirect (FIRSTTeams@conferencedirect.com) to begin the housing and badging process.

Review additional housing information including a list of hotels.

IMPORTANT: You will be responsible for any cancellation fees incurred per hotel policies.

Make Sure Lead Coach 1 & 2 Information is Up to Date
FIRST Tech Challenge will use the Lead Coach 1 & 2 phone number and email addresses listed in your team’s Dashboard. Please make sure this information is up to date prior to arriving at the FIRST Championship.

Accessible Seating and Pits:
Accessible seating is available for all fields. If your team needs accessible seating, please indicate this when you register for badging to help us with planning. There will be space by the field for the person in need plus up to three (3) additional members from their team.

Please see a volunteer for directions to seating. Due to space constraints, most of the team will need to sit in the reserved area in the stands behind the accessible seating and accessible seating is limited during the closing Awards Ceremony and da Vinci Tournament.

If your team would like to request an accessible pit, please fill out this form. Teams may submit accessible pit requests no later than April 22, 2026.

Late requests will be considered on an "as available" basis for requests submitted between April 23 and April 26. FIRST may not be able to accommodate all requests.

If more accessible pits are requested than are available, accessible pits will be assigned randomly. Pit assignments will be made no later than April 27, 2026.

Volunteer Opportunities:
As part of FIRST Championship, we ask FIRST participants to assist us by volunteering at the event. We have roles available like robot inspection, team queuing, field reset, and more!

If you have extra parents, mentors, or students coming to FIRST Championship, they can sign up to volunteer. With this year’s event changes, we could really use the help with Robot Inspection, so please consider volunteering!

All volunteers must be at least 15 years old and some roles have other requirements. Apply today!

Students can also consider becoming a Student Ambassador if they are 13 years or older! Time commitment for the role is a two-hour shift plus training. To sign up, please use the link above and select Student Ambassador.

If you have any questions, please contact studentambassador@firstinspires.org.

As always, we are here to help. Please contact our FIRST Support team with any questions.

Robot Shipping:
Teams that have registered to FIRST Championship will receive an email from ftclogistics@firstinspires.org with instructions to indicate whether the team will hand carry or ship the robot crate with the FedEx voucher. Read robot shipping information.

Event Security
Teams should plan for wait lines entering the venue each day. We highly recommend that teams show up to their desired entrance 10-15 minutes prior to wanting to enter the venue to ensure they have time to go through security and get to where they need to be.

FIRST Tech Challenge Judging Changes
FIRST Tech Challenge recently shared updates to the FIRST Tech Challenge Team judging experience at FIRST Championship. Please read our blog for more.

FIRST Tech Challenge da Vinci Changes
This year we’re introducing the da Vinci Round Robin Tournament for our final matches. You can read more about this change and how it will work in our Championship Saturday: da Vinci Details and a NEW Game Preview blog.

FIRST Tech Challenge Coaches Webinar
FIRST Tech Challenge is hosting a 2026 FIRST Championship Coaches Webinar on Wednesday, April 22, at 8:00 p.m. ET. We highly encourage coaches to attend and ask any questions they might have about the event. Register for the webinar.