It’s that time of year where we share award updates for the new season.

Removal of Rookie Inspiration and a New Award

We have decided to remove the Rookie Inspiration Award as having rookie-only awards does not help recognize all new teams. We also already have another award recognizing Rookies - the Rookie All Star Award.

With the removal of this award, we have created a new award – the Rising All-Star Award. This new award is focused on new beginnings as you can see in this description:

“Celebrates the team that has persisted through challenges, despite the difficulties of being young. This could be the result of being a new team, or a team with recent turnover in membership.”

This award will be optional meaning that it is not required to be presented at every event if the judges do not feel a competing team meets the criteria. You can see the full guidelines on the Team Attributes Award webpage.

FIRST^®  Impact Award

The biggest change to the FIRST^® Impact Award for this season is that the Executive Summary questions have been modified based on feedback from the Hall of Fame teams, some of our FIRST Impact Award judges, and our Global Judge Advisors*. Many of the questions remain unchanged or have minor edits but there are a few larger changes. Please review the updated questions on the Submitted Award Webpage and be sure to use these new updated questions when drafting your submission.

We also wanted to share a few reminders on the FIRST Impact Award:

• FIRST Impact Award Video - The only way to submit a FIRST Impact Award video is through the submission portal using one of the approved links.
  • One thing that teams can consider doing is entering a link during the submission process that will later redirect to the FIRST Impact Award video. This allows teams more time to finish the video if they need or to continue to iterate on the video from event to event. One way to do this is using Google Drive and creating a folder and sharing that folder link in the submission. If you take this approach, there should only be one file in the folder at the event. See full details on video guidelines on the Submitted Award Webpage.
• Submission Criteria: Do not use the < or > characters within your submission. Using these characters may result in your submission not saving.
• Sibling Teams - If Sibling Teams plan to submit for the FIRST Impact Award, they should choose one of the following options:
  • Only one of the teams submits for the FIRST Impact Award, or
  • Each team can submit and should have different submissions and presentations
• Silent Observer – For years, we have allowed teams the option to have 1 silent adult observer. This adult observer allows teams to get feedback by relaying their observations to the team and questions that the judges had about the team, essay, and presentation. The judges appreciate this additional feedback avenue and it in no way penalizes the team. We encourage all teams to bring an adult observer.
• Additional Provided Material
  • Teams are encouraged to show their FIRST Impact Award Documentation Form (editable Word doc – file automatically downloads) to the judges during the interview. Note that this is not a required form (i.e. you can still be eligible without this form) but providing it shows the judges that your activities are well planned and documented.
  • Teams may also choose to provide additional materials to the judges to review, but it is strongly recommended that the materials are no larger than one 2" 3-ring binder (or equivalent volume if spiral wound). It’s also recommended that materials be in a single bound unit, and not as multiple handouts. Judges may not have time to review all material that is provided to them, but these materials do help them verify any additional questions they have. The binder should focus on the team's activities going back no more than 4 seasons. Please do not try to document your team's entire history in the materials given to judges.

Innovation in Control Award

We’re excited to announce that the Innovation in Control Award is now sponsored by nVent! Please note that there are no changes to the award guidelines or description.

Awards and Banners

This season, we are changing the Blue Banners to a canvas material rather than the vinyl material used in 2024. The material used prior to 2024 is no longer available and this material is thicker and will be less wrinkly than the vinyl material used in 2024. The pole pocket on the bottom will now be 2” and the sizing and spacing of the logo and text on the banners are also being adjusted.

Teams will be able to purchase additional banners and additional awards as needed. Please note that the new banner style will available for purchase in February 2025.

Additionally, here’s a sneak peek of what the 2025 Medallions will look like this year:

Award Resources

We also wanted to take this opportunity to remind teams of some great award resources that are available such as:

• Award Workbook – This resource contains the award descriptions and guidelines as well as suggested questions that judges may use during pit interviews. This document has been updated with other award changes detailed below.
• Best Practices for FIRST^® Robotics Competition Judged Awards - This resource includes tips for talking with judges in the pits as well as tips for the FIRST Impact Award and Dean's List Award.
• Inside Look at the Judging Process – This document covers how the judging process works at events.
• Dean’s List Award Guide – This guide assists team in preparing for the submission and for participating in the Dean’s List Award interview. It contains information on the Dean's List Award, best practices for writing the submission and preparing for the interview, and more!
• FIRST Impact Award Resources - This webpage contains multiple resources to help teams when submitting for the FIRST Impact Award including, previous winning team's submissions, an FAQ on the award, and additional resources.
• In the spirit of being more transparent here are some resources that we have created for judges that we thought the community may also be interested in. The Judge Manual will also be made public on the Judge role description when it is available later this year.
  • Technical Judging Tips – This resource was created to help technical judges know what to look for with respect to the machine, creativity, and innovation awards.
  • FIRST Impact Award Judging Guidelines - A resource judges should use when reviewing and evaluating the submitted essays and discussing the interviews. This document helps add consistency and guide judges on picking the most qualified teams.
  • Dean’s List Award Judging Guidelines - A resource judges should use when reviewing and evaluating the submitted essays and discussing the interviews. This document helps add consistency and guide judges on picking the most qualified students to win the FIRST Dean’s List Award.

*Global Judge Advisors is the new name for what we previously called our Chief Judge Advisors. We have renamed all of our Chief Roles to have “Global” in the title to align cross-program. This change also helps recognize the global impact these positions have across FIRST programs.