Frequently Asked Questions

It depends on your child, and no one knows your child better than you do. FTC tends to be less intense and requires a lower time commitment, while FRC is generally more demanding, with students often spending more hours each week at the shop.

Some students with a particularly high level of interest and drive choose to participate in both programs. In fact, our coaches highly recommend participating in both, as FTC provides students with direct, hands-on experience designing, building, programming, and competing with a robot throughout an entire season. We find that students learn far more through this real-world engineering experience than through skills workshops alone, and the technical, teamwork, and problem-solving skills they develop transfer directly to FRC.

That said, participating in both programs is a significant commitment. Because the FTC and FRC competition seasons overlap, January and February can be especially busy for students involved in both. Families should carefully consider their student's interests, maturity, academic workload, and availability when deciding which option is the best fit.

So much! We begin team and skill building during the off-season, so our teams are ready to hit the ground running. We will host workshops to develop individual skills.

Absolutely. Use our contact form to speak with one of our mentors about starting a team in your community.

Check out each program's details page:

FIRST® LEGO® League

FIRST® Tech Challenge

FIRST® Robotics Challenge