In this week's blast:

⚙️ Round 2 Event Preferencing Closing
⚙️ Late Registration for Second Events
⚙️ Drive Base & Black Tote Opt-Out new process
⚙️ Kickoff Registration
⚙️ Review your Youth Protection Program Clearance
⚙️ FIRST^® Robotics Competition Blog Updates
⚙️ Fundraising Resource of the week

Program Updates, Deadlines, & Reminders

Second Event Registration, Round 2 Preferencing: 
Round 2 of event preferencing closes today, October 22, at 12:00 p.m. ET. Teams must be registered or waitlisted for a first event in order to preference events in Round 2.

Late Registration for Second Events:
Event Ready teams that missed the second round of event preferencing will be able to pick their event in our late registration period.

Drive Base & Black Tote Opt-Out new process:
As a reminder, your team must select the appropriate registration option via the FIRST^® Storefront and purchase your team registration prior to the payment due date, November 17, 2026. See more details and a support article with instructions.

Kickoff Registration:
The Kickoff registration is open through November 17, at 12:00 noon ET. Please review this support article for instructions. After saving your Kickoff selection, please allow up to 20 minutes for the free Kickoff shipping option to appear in the FIRST Storefront.

Reminder: Please note that team administrators, in addition to lead coaches, can access the FIRST Storefront and complete purchases. We recommend that lead coaches and team administrators confirm their Kickoff and Kit selections with each other in advance to avoid conflicting shipping or kit option choices.

Review your Youth Protection Program Clearance:
As previously announced, annual FIRST Youth Protection clearances include:

✅ Youth Protection Policy Acknowledgment.
✅ Youth Protection Training.
✅ Youth Protection Screening. (U.S./Canada)

FIRST Dashboard profiles can show if you have your YPP Clearance. All Lead Coaches and mentors should go to their profile and confirm their Youth Protection status. We also ask all Lead Coaches to remind mentors to complete their screening as soon as possible.

FIRST Robotics Competition Blog Updates:

✏️ Digital Animation Award for FIRST CANOPY™

Resource of the Week:
As the payment due dates gets closer, we want to remind teams about the Fundraising Guide. This 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 fundraise, fundraising ideas, as well as information on sponsorships, grants, and record keeping.

Upcoming Important Dates:

🗓️ Thursday, October 22 – Round 2 Event Preferencing Closes
🗓️ Friday, October 23 – Second Late Registration Opens
🗓️ Thursday, October 29 – Unrestricted Regional Event Registration Opens
🗓️ Thursday, October 29 – Additional In-District Event Registration Opens
🗓️ Thursday, October 29 – FIRST Impact Award Application Opens
🗓️ Thursday, October 29 – FIRST Leadership Award Application Opens
🗓️ Thursday, October 29 – Woodie Flowers Award Application Open