Hi Team Number,

Congratulations on qualifying; we are so glad your team is joining us! Please review this email closely as this is the last email blast and contains important reminders regarding the 2025 FIRST^® Championship presented by BAE Systems.

In this week’s blast:

⚙️ Event Information
⚙️ FIRST^® Championship Housing and Badge Registration
⚙️ On-Site Registration
⚙️ Travel Documentation
⚙️ Robot Shipping
⚙️ Team Load In
⚙️ Accessible Seating
⚙️ Streaming
⚙️ New Metro Option
⚙️ Volunteer Opportunities

Event Information:

View FIRST Robotics Competition Specific Championship Information where we’ve compiled including details on queuing, practice fields, layouts, schedule, and more! We’ll post updates often, so check back periodically for new information.

Teams can also check out the FIRST Championship website for information that is applicable to all programs and attendees for information that is applicable to all attendees such as information about badging, conferences, Innovation Faire, and more!

FIRST^® Championship Housing and Badge Registration:

The window to book housing for FIRST Championship with Conference Direct ended Tuesday, April 8, at 6:00 p.m. ET. If you have not yet booked housing, please use our authorized travel partner aRes.

*Please note that aRes Travel is a third-party travel planner. Rates, deposits, and cancellation policies may vary and are the responsibility of the guest. Questions on hotel policies or payments made on aRes website should be directed to the aRes Reservation Center or to the hotel directly.

On-Site Registration:

Team’s lead mentor 1 or 2 must check-in at the Team Check-In Desk in Hall C to receive their team’s name badges and team registration packet. Check-in times are Wednesday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Teams may also get badges on Tuesday during general registration but must still check in on Wednesday to get the team registration packet.

FIRST requires every attendee to be registered and badged, including adult team mentors, youth team members, parents, family members, chaperones, etc. who are participating in the event. You can refer to this article for more information on who needs to be listed on the team badging. There is no pre-registration for spectators, and they will need to register onsite.

Travel Documentation:

We wanted to remind teams traveling internationally to be prepared and have all documentation needed. Remember to ensure that all members have correct travel documents (passports, visas, etc) and to be sure to print out information such as travel details, invitation letter, etc.

Robot Shipping:

Teams that have registered have received an email from frclogistics@firstinspires.org with instructions to indicate whether the team will hand carry or ship the robot crate with the FedEx voucher. Read information about shipping the robot to FIRST Championship and deadlines. For more about shipping and the Championship Load-In and Load-Out guides, please review this FIRST Robotics Competition blog.

Teams Outside the U.S. and Canada: The shipping window for Teams outside of U.S. and Canada has closed and you will have to hand-carry your robot to Championship.

Have questions about shipping your robot to FIRST Championship? Please send an email to frclogistics@firstinspires.org.

Team Load-In:

All teams must follow the Load-In process as outlined in the Team Load-In Instructions in order to bring materials into the Pits from their vehicles. Check out the Logistics section in the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Information for more details on both Load-In & Load-Out. As a reminder, only six (6) team members are allowed in until pits open to everyone at 2:00 p.m. CT and two of the members must be adults.

All Early Load-In teams must check in at the early check-in desk in the lobby starting at 7:00 a.m. to obtain wristbands to enter the pits.

Teams who need to print name badges at the Team Check In desk or need to send members to the loading dock from the lobby may also check in at the early check-in desk to obtain a different colored wristband to allow them access. These teams will not be allowed in the pits until 9:00 a.m. Teams with materials on 53’ trucks will not be allowed in until 9 a.m. as trucks do not arrive prior to 9 a.m.

Check out the Logistics section on the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Information page for more details.

Accessible Seating: 

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 team members.

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 Einstein. See the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Information for more details.

Streaming:

In addition to dedicated streams for each of the eight divisions, FIRST Champs Live will be back this season for combined coverage and analysis of the entire event! Find links to all the streams.

New Metro Option:

A new Metro service is now available between the George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) Terminal C with non-stop service to the George R. Brown Convention Center for only $4.50 one way.  This service is available seven days a week from 5:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. and runs every 30 minutes.  For more information visit RideMETRO.org. 

Volunteer Opportunities:

Volunteer Registration has closed. Anyone who would like to volunteer can still volunteer as a walk-on volunteer at the event but must be at least 15 years old. Volunteers interested can go to the registration desk on site to sign up to be a Walk-On Volunteer.

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