The Competition Team

FIRST LEGO League provides an incredible opportunity for students to apply the same engineering principles professional engineers use.

There are four parts to a FIRST LEGO League Competition: The Robot Game, The Robot Design, The Project, and Core Values.  This ABC news feature gives a short overview of the experience.

The Robot Game: 

The most exciting and public part of the competition is the robot game.  It displays the results of months of hard work, the final test of their design.  The team has 2.5 minutes to solve as many missions as possible.

The Robot Design: 

A presentation to judges showing the engineering design process and how they applied it to the robot.  Identifying problems, researching solutions, brainstorming, designing, building a prototype, testing and repeating this over and over, until their design solves the problems they identified for their robot. 

The Project:

A presentation to judges where the students demonstrate the engineering design process used to solve a problem they find under the FLL theme for 2024 Masterpieces.  The team will interview experts in the field, select a problem, and design a solution.  

Core Values: 

We express the FIRST philosophies of Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition through our Core Values:

• Discovery: We explore new skills and ideas.
• Innovation: We use creativity and persistence to solve problems.
• Impact:  We apply what we learn to improve our world.
• Inclusion: We respect each other and embrace our differences.
• Teamwork: We are stronger when we work together.
• Fun: We enjoy and celebrate what we do!

All year the kids focus on these core values, we talk about them, we reward the good practice of them, and on competition day we demonstrate them. 

Melissa Madsen coaches the homeschool competition team, something she has been doing for the past eight years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Brigham Young University and worked professionally as an aerospace engineer. Melissa is passionate about using robotics to teach engineering to young people. 

The up-front registration fee is $375. 

Monthly tuition payments are $185.

The registration fee is due by August 8th.  Tuition of $185 is due on the 17th of each month starting August 17th and continuing through April 17th and must be on autopay.  The competition team is a full school year commitment. You are paying for the entire nine month experience, which is divided into monthly payments.  Every month has a different number of hours.

The registration fee and monthly tuition cover fees charged by FIRST, competition fees for the Qualifier and State Competitions, a t-shirt, basic presentation materials, facility rental, use of robots, legos, computers, and coaching hours. 

Other costs not covered by the registration fee and tuition are travel costs to the competitions and snacks during the competition. If the team advances to the world competition, which will likely be hosted in the United States, the team and parents will discuss additional costs. 

Applications to the competition team are free. Applications are due Saturday August 1st.  Applicants will find out their qualification status on or before Wednesday August 5th.  If the team does not fill by August 5th registration will reopen as long as seats are available. 

Meetings take place at Code N Bots.

Code N Bots competition teams meet for 1.5 hours on Mondays and Wednesdays. Additionally teams meet once a month on Saturday for 2 hours. Field trips are planned by the students and parent volunteers and, if possible, will occur during the usual weekly time, either Monday or Wednesday. Parents will need to arrange for transportation to and from field trips.  

Code N Bots will have two competition teams:

HOMESCHOOL TEAM:  Tuesday & Thursday  1:00 - 2:30 PM 

AFTERSCHOOL TEAM: Tuesday & Thursday  4:00 - 5:25 PM

After the State competition, the competition teams will meet only once weekly.

Extra practices are scheduled on an as-needed basis as we approach competition dates and will be supervised by parents or coaches.

The Code N Bots competition teams will attend competitions organized and sanctioned by FIRST Lego League.  

Code N Bots Competition Teams compete at a practice competition in December in Eagle Mountain, a qualifier in Provo or at Hillcrest in February, and, if we qualify, the FIRST LEGO League State Competition at Weber State in March.  Other possibilities include the FIRST LEGO League Worlds Competition in Houston, Texas in May and various other invitationals.

 Competition dates are announced after the season begins. Teams will be updated as soon as registration for competition is open and dates are publicly available. 

Competitions occur on a Saturday and last for approximately six hours, with travel times around 30 minutes to one hour each way.  A parent or trusted friend is required to attend.

Based on competitions dates from past years, likely competition dates are December 5 or 12, January 23, March 6.

Additional practices may be arranged for an additional fee after the State Competition if desired. Food, Lodging, Travel, and competition fees will need to be covered separately. Should the team qualify for these events, the team and parents will meet to decide on participation.

After the State competition concludes, the team will continue to meet on a reduced schedule: once weekly on Wednesdays.  This allows time to learn from what went right and wrong at the competitions and implement design improvements. 

In addition, teams will be able to participate in the Code N Bots “Day with an Engineer” to learn how to prepare for a career in engineering. Possibilities for the coming year include interviews with a leading engineer at Space Dynamics Laboratory from Logan, Utah, and the chief engineer on the Mars Rover from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Parents will be asked to follow up with their team member on homework assignments and encourage their team member to collaborate with other team members during the week as needed.

Prior to competition day, parents can coordinate and plan snacks and lunches for the team, assist in swag creation, and plan “downtime” activities for competition day.

On competition day, Code N Bots asks that one or two parents keep the team and coaches on schedule. 

Competition day is exciting and stressful, so being available to encourage the team is a big help.

There are no make ups for missed practices, the Competition Teams get a tremendous number of hours of access to Code N Bots and are generally permitted to work on projects and robotics missions anytime Code N Bots is open with the exception of other Competition team hours.

The coach will attend every Tuesday and Thursday meeting unless unable to do so due to illness or family emergency. If the coach cannot attend, the practice will be canceled unless a suitable substitute can be found. The coach will make up time by scheduling extra practices.

Although there is no experience required for joining a competition team, enrolling in a Code N Bots summer camp  will help your child prepare.  

 A lot of students have a hard time with teamwork and the reiteration process required in engineering. Students do not have to be proficient in these areas, but do need to be willing to grow.  

Technical skills required are simply the ability to use a computer, read, close and open programs, and apply fine-motor skills required to build with LEGOs.  All else can be learned while working with the competition team. 

Each competition team is limited to eight students.  Code N Bots has two teams. Priority will be given to students that will age out before the following season and students that demonstrate good team work skills on their application or during other Code N Bots programs. 

Code N Bots offers classes and an intramural team for students who wish to develop further engineering experience before joining the competition team.