For a New Team: Registration and the Kit of Parts

Starting a team is a project of its own

Launching a rookie FRC team takes planning months before Kickoff. Here’s the roadmap.

Step 1: Recruit mentors and students

• You need at least two adult mentors/coaches (a school often requires a teacher sponsor). Mentors don’t need to be engineers — FIRST provides free training.
• Recruit a starting core of students (a viable team can begin with around 8–10, though more helps spread the workload across sub-teams).
• Identify a meeting/build space with power and room for a robot and tools, plus basic safety provisions.

Step 2: Register on firstinspires.org

• Create a team registration through the FIRST Dashboard. Registration is what unlocks the season and your team number.
• Plan ahead: registration opens in the fall , before January Kickoff, and the Kit of Parts is tied to it. Choose whether to pick up your Kickoff Kit at a local Kickoff event (free shipping) or have it shipped to you (the ‘MySite’ option, for an added fee).

Step 3: Budget realistically

• The base season registration fee is $6,500 for the 2026–27 season (the same for rookie and veteran teams; check the official Cost & Registration page, as it changes year to year). Each additional event has its own fee.
• Beyond registration, budget for tools, materials, travel, and spare parts. Rookie teams commonly spend several thousand dollars more in their first year.
• Grants are frequently available from FIRST and sponsors (corporate, regional, and rookie-specific grants) to offset first-year costs — apply early via the FIRST Team Grant Opportunities page.

Step 4: Understand the Kit of Parts

Your registration includes a Kit of Parts , which has three pieces:

• Kickoff Kit: physical components delivered around Kickoff, including a ‘Season-Specific’ box , a black tote , and a Drive Base Kit (the AndyMark AM14U6 chassis). It supports the KitBot — a beginner-friendly, buildable robot designed so rookies can field a functional machine for the current game. (REV separately publishes its own REV ION FRC Starter Bot as an alternative starter robot — it is not the FIRST KitBot.)
• Virtual Kit: software licenses, credits, and digital resources (CAD, design tools).
• FIRST Choice credits: a points-based system to order additional components from a curated catalog.

The KitBot is a genuine lifeline for rookies: FIRST releases build instructions (and Java starter code) shortly after Kickoff so a new team can build a competitive baseline robot without designing from scratch. Veteran teams can opt out of the drive base or tote in exchange for vendor vouchers.

Step 5: Get the official documents

At Kickoff, download:

• The Game Manual (the rulebook): https://firstfrc.blob.core.windows.net/frc2026/Manual/2026GameManual.pdf
• Season Materials and field drawings: https://www.firstinspires.org/resources/library/frc/season-materials

Step 6: Connect to the community

• Chief Delphi (chiefdelphi.com) is the main FRC forum — invaluable for rookie questions, build threads, and advice.
• Find a nearby veteran team to mentor you ; many will share parts, space, and knowledge (Gracious Professionalism in action).

Learn more

• FRC Cost & Registration: https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc/cost-and-registration
• Kit of Parts: https://www.firstinspires.org/resources/library/frc/kit-of-parts

Key takeaways

• Recruit at least two adult mentors and a student core, secure a build space, and register on firstinspires.org in the fall — the Kit of Parts is tied to registration.
• Budget about $6,500 for base registration (same for rookies and veterans) plus tools, travel, and materials; apply for rookie and sponsor grants to offset first-year costs.
• The Kit of Parts includes the Kickoff Kit (AndyMark AM14U6 drive base plus the buildable FIRST KitBot), a Virtual Kit, and FIRST Choice credits, letting rookies field a functional robot without designing from scratch.

This lesson was adapted from learnfrc.com.