The Blue Alliance & Your Online Footprint

What The Blue Alliance is

The Blue Alliance (TBA) is the community-run hub where the FRC world scouts teams, watches matches, and relives events. Nearly everyone in FRC - scouts deciding alliance picks, judges doing research, and fans - looks teams up here. Your TBA profile is part of your public footprint whether you manage it or not.

Claiming and managing your profile

• Profiles are claimed and managed by verified team members through TBA’s account system (you request team admin access and verify via your FIRST/team affiliation).
• Once claimed, you can add a team description, links to your website and social accounts, and team branding.
• A complete profile with links and a description looks far more professional than a blank one and funnels visitors to your owned channels.

Contributing media

TBA relies on the community to keep its archive complete. You can:

• Submit missing match videos via the “Add Video” links.
• Submit missing webcasts and team/robot photos.
• Upload your robot and team photos so they show on your profile.

This is a quick, high-impact task: every video and photo you contribute improves your visibility and helps the whole community.

Why scouting and analytics matter to media

TBA and sister sites surface analytics like OPR (Offensive Power Rating) and community metrics (e.g., EPA , Expected Points Added, popularized by Statbotics). You don’t have to be a stats expert, but knowing these exist helps you write accurate, credible recaps (“we ranked Xth of Y”) and gives scouting subteams data to share on your channels during events.

The wider ecosystem

• Statbotics (statbotics.io) - widely used FRC analytics (EPA and more); another place to pull credible numbers for recaps.
• FIRST Dashboard - the official portal where you register, submit awards (including the Impact Award), and manage team data. Keep your official team info accurate here.
• Your own site and socials - TBA should link out to these; treat owned channels as the destination.

A maintenance habit

Once per season:

1. Confirm your TBA profile is claimed and the description, website, and social links are current.
2. Upload your new team photo and best robot photo.
3. After each event, check that your match videos are present; submit any that are missing.

Five minutes of upkeep keeps your most-viewed public profile sharp.

Key takeaways

• Claim your Blue Alliance profile and fill in your description, website, social links, and branding
• Contribute missing match videos, webcasts, and photos; it boosts your visibility and helps the community
• Keep TBA, Statbotics, and the FIRST Dashboard current, and treat your owned site/socials as the destination they link to

This lesson was adapted from learnfrc.com.