Participation Rules

Like other team activities, FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) has basic ground rules.  Failure to abide by these rules could result in ineligibility for awards at a tournament or other consequences deemed necessary by judges, referees, tournament organizers, FIRST LEGO League Partners, FLL headquarters, or their designated representatives.  Additional rules and awards criteria may be found through the links below.

Questions? Contact fllteams@usfirst.org

 General
  • Team members must make all decisions and do all the work on the Robot Game and Project.  This includes deciding on strategy, building, programming, researching, choosing a problem and innovative solution, and presenting at a tournament. 
    • Anyone who works with the team (coaches, mentors, topic experts, parents, etc.) may teach team members new skills, handle logistics for the team, ask questions to get team members thinking, and remind them of the FLL rules.  Adults play an important role in coaching and supporting their team, but the team’s robot and project should be the work of team members.
Coach
  • An FLL team must have a minimum of two (2) screened Lead Coaches.
Team Members
  • An FLL team must have a minimum of two (2) and a maximum of ten (10) children.  A team with more than ten (10) children will not be eligible for awards at an official FLL tournament.
  • Children may be members of only one (1) FLL team per season.
  • No team member may be outside the maximum allowed age in your region prior to January 1 of the year the Challenge is released.
    • Allowed ages in most countries: 9-16 years
    • Allowed ages in U.S., Canada, and Mexico: 9-14 years
    • For example, in the United States a student who turns 15 in May of 2015 would be eligible to compete in the Challenge released in August of 2015, whereas a child who turned 15 in December 2014 would not.
Robot Game
  • Each team’s robot must be built in accordance with all allowable parts, software and other rules.  For complete Robot rules, visit the current Challenge page.
Project
  • Teams must demonstrate completion of all three (3) steps of the  FLL Project (identify a problem, develop an innovative solution, and share with others) as part of their presentation, and fulfill any other requirements as defined in the annual Project document.  For complete Project rules, visit the current Challenge page.
Tournaments
  • All teams must be officially registered and paid before they will be allowed to participate in official FLL tournaments.
  • Many FLL regions have multiple levels of competition.  While teams may attend other events for fun (if space allows), they are only eligible to win awards at the first official event of each level attended during the season.  Teams may not receive multiple chances to advance to the next level of competition.  Please contact your FIRST LEGO League Partner with any questions about how this works in your region.
  • FIRST teams should follow the Adult Supervision Ratios recommended in the FIRST Youth Protection Guide.  At a minimum, each FLL Team should have two supervising adults responsible for only that team.
  • Teams must participate in the robot performance rounds as well as all three (3) judging sessions (Core Values, Robot Design, and Project) in order to be eligible for any FLL Core Award.
  • All team members present at an event are expected to participate in all three (3) judged sessions, in addition to showing up as a team for the Robot Game.
  • FLL expects teams and those associated with the team to uphold and display FLL Core Values at all times, not just during Core Values judging sessions.
  • Only tournament officials (judges, referees, and other tournament workers) may direct team members while judging sessions and robot matches are in progress.  Any other person instructing, prompting, heckling, or otherwise interfering with a team or tournament worker during judging sessions or robot matches may be asked to leave by tournament officials.  In severe cases, these activities may also affect the team’s eligibility for awards and/or participation in the tournament.
 Judging and Awards
 Specific U.S./Canada Requirements
  • All team members and coaches must submit a signed Consent and Release form at their first tournament of the season.  Some tournaments may collect forms earlier.  Check with your FIRST LEGO League Partner if you have any questions about how to submit forms in your region.

Updates to these rules will be communicated via email to registered FLL coaches.