FLL Program-Specific Questions

“I registered my team .. now how do I order the mat?”

If Registration is closed: AND – If you have not received your material or are unsure of what you ordered, please contact Spectrum Education Supplies.

You should be able to log back into the FLL Registration System and order your mat. The FLL Field Set Up Kit (Part Number: 991217) costs about $88 Can.  The Kit contents change from year to year based on challenge theme, however, it usually consists of:

• Mission Models Set: Exclusive collection of several hundred LEGO elements required to build the mission models to place on the field mat.
• Field Mat: A 44 3/4” X 92 3/4”  sheet
• Building instructions on CD

The field mat needs to be set up on a flat surface with borders around it. For information on how to set up borders on a floor, or how to build a standard FLL table, please visit the FLL website.

 

“How do I get my child involved in team?”

There are almost 120 teams in Alberta and 5500 in North America. Worldwide participation includes over 9000 teams. You have asked about how to get involved so let’s clarify how all this comes about.

• A school or parental group gets a bunch (max 10) of students (ages 9-14) together who want to compete in the FIRST Lego League tournament.
• The team registers via the FIRST registration system by the end of September.
• The registered team is eligible to compete in a local or qualifying tournament, which may qualify the team to move onto the Provincial championship.  Those teams WILL BE CONTACTED by the Tournament Director ONLY IF they registered in time with the international registration first.  ONLY those teams contacted by the tournament director will be invited to participate in ALBERTA events and organized mentorship programs.

  Note that to register in ALBERTA, and receive all the support, and have a chance to compete, there is an additional cost.  This information will be sent to each team as part of the invitation to participate in Alberta.

  Teams that RESIDE outside of ALBERTA are welcome to participate in our province based on the international rule that they do not participate in their home province or state. I.e. you can only compete in one jurisdiction.

There is currently no system in place to help interested students joint a team.  Teams usually form “around” the interested children and their school or parental group.  You are certainly encouraged to come out to our tournaments to get an idea of what FIRST is all about. You can then start planning for next year, get some students and adult mentors together, and put together a team. Registration typically starts in May. For more information, please see the FIRST Lego League Website at www.firstinspires.org/robotics/fll

FIRST (For Inspiration of Science and Technology) is a group staffed almost entirely of volunteers dedicated to encouraging our youths interest in Science and Technology. For more information on FIRST, please see the FIRST website at www.firstinspires.org/about/vision-and-mission.

 

“Why do I have to pay to register, buy a mat and then pay again to attend a Qualifying Tournament?”

The registration you pay is to the FIRST organization and goes towards the administration costs of running the entire organization. Part of the benefit of registering is being able to purchase the RCX or NXT kit with the added sensors and software (a substantial $$ value). The items have been added through the generosity of LEGO and others and are only available to Registered Teams. The fee also subsidizes the purchase of the field setup kits,so they can be make available at a discounted price. FLL – ALBERTA and FRS Alberta receive no money from FIRST to run our operations and events.  We are completely volunteer based.

The money you pay for registering your team at our Qualifying Tournament goes towards running that tournament only. The base fee is set by the Director of FLL ALBERTA and depends on: how much it costs to run a decent tournament and how much sponsorship, donated or grant money, is available to FLL-Alberta that can be passed on to help run the tournament.