We are happy to share that Volunteer Registration is now open for all FIRST® Robotics Competition Events, including the 2027 FIRST® Championship! We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: FIRST runs on volunteers and we’re so thankful for all that they do.
If you have extra parents, mentors, or students coming to an event with you, consider asking if they are interested in volunteering at the event. We have roles available that require multiple-day commitments and also have roles available where additional help is needed for just a few hours. Check out the Volunteer Role Descriptions for more details.
To apply to an event, click the “register to volunteer for this event” from any individual event frc-events webpage to bring you direct to the volunteer registration page for that event, or you can find events through the FIRST Dashboard. More details on the application process can be found in this help article.
Youth Protection Program Clearance
Earlier this year, we shared some updates to the FIRST Youth Protection. These changes also apply to event volunteers so want to put a reminder in this blog.
All event volunteers are required to obtain Youth Protection Program (YPP) Clearance. YPP Clearance includes completion of applicable YPP screening requirements, annual FIRST YPP training (through FIRST Training), and acknowledgment of FIRST YPP policies. FIRST Youth Protection screening requirements apply to participants in applicable roles in the United States and Canada. FIRST expects Youth Protection standards to be applied internationally in accordance with applicable local laws and regulations.
We also want to note that the current FIRST YPP training is being updated and we expect to release a refreshed version of the training by the end of December 2026. Anyone who has already completed the existing FIRST YPP training for the 2026-2027 season will be credited for completing the annual training and will not be required to complete the new version this season.
Volunteer Training
We also want to share a bit about some new volunteer trainings that are available this season through FIRST Training. Folks at FIRST worked to create some foundational training for some select roles, and these trainings are cross-program for both FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST® Tech Challenge. These trainings can be found in the FIRST Training platform by searching “at a glance.” The intent of these trainings is to provide newer folks to FIRST a basic understanding of the role and each training only needs to be completed one time (rather than yearly). These trainings are short, brief overviews and roles will have additional training either on site or via a separate program-specific volunteer training. FIRST also leveraged this opportunity to put a bit more content into a few roles so we can provide this basic information one time and not have volunteers have to read the same content for each program every year in the program-specific trainings that are available. Some of these trainings will be required for specific roles in FIRST Robotics Competition this season while others will be optional.
In addition, we are currently starting work on the role specific volunteer trainings. Just like last season, all of these trainings will be available in FIRST Training so anyone can access them if interested. These trainings will be released as they are finalized with the intent that all trainings are available a few weeks before events begin.