Hi ,

In this week's blast:

⚙️ Pre-Kickoff Virtual Kit Release 
⚙️ Upcoming Team Registration Payment Due Date 
⚙️ Kit & Kickoff Registration 
⚙️ FIRST^® Robotics Competition Blog Updates 
⚙️ Fundraising Guide Resource 

Program Updates, Deadlines, & Reminders

Pre-Kickoff Virtual Kit Release: The 2026 Virtual Kit of Parts is now live. The details and instructions are posted in the Virtual Kit section of the Kit of Parts page.  

Please note: Once payment is secured, voucher codes will be populated on the Password/Voucher Code section of the FIRST^® Dashboard for lead mentors 1 and 2.

Reminder! Upcoming Team Registration Payment Due Date: 2026 FIRST^® Robotics Competition team registration payment is due Tuesday, November 18, at 5:00 p.m. ET for all rookie and veteran teams registered for their initial 2026 event. As a reminder:  

🤖 If your team is waiting on grant funding that is restricted to registration fees, do not check out. Team registration payment methods cannot be changed after checking out. 

🤖 The FIRST lockbox overnight address changed effective October 22, 2025.  

For additional information and tips on ensuring your team’s registration payment is completed on time, read our Essential Steps to Secure Payments and Meet Seasonal Demands blog.  

Closing Soon! Kit & Kickoff Registration: The Kit and Kickoff registration closes on November 18 at 12:00 p.m. ET. Every FIRST Robotics Competition team must select a local Kickoff location to pick up their Kickoff Kit at, as well as provide a Kickoff Kit shipment address in the event the team is switched to a MySite. 

We highly recommend teams pickup their Kickoff Kit at a local Kickoff in order to receive it on Kickoff Day. If a team opts to have their Kickoff Kit shipped, there will be additional fees. To view a summary of additional fees, visit the Kickoff information and select "MySites". Additionally, if a team opts to have their Kickoff Kit shipped, it will ship after Kickoff, and only once a team has secured their registration fee. There is no guaranteed delivery date, but it will be after Kickoff. Visit our Kickoff Selection Instructions for help. 

Please note: As mentioned, you MUST provide a shipping address even if your team selects to pickup their Kit at a local Kickoff. 

FIRST Robotics Competition Blog Updates:  

✏️ Upcoming Important Dates! 

Resource of the Week: The Fundraising Guide is intended to be an introduction to fundraising for FIRST teams and covers the basics of why you should fund raise, how to prepare to fund raise, fundraising ideas, as well as information on sponsorships, grants, and record keeping. 

Upcoming Important Dates:

⚙️ Tuesday, November 18 at 12:00 p.m. ET – Kit and Kickoff Registration Closes & All FIRST Robotics Competition District Events and Regional Events Registration Closes 
⚙️ Tuesday, November 18 at 5:00 p.m. ET –  Team Registration Payment Due Date 
⚙️ Thursday, November 20 at 3:00 p.m. ET –  Safety Animation Award Closes