Start a Challenge Team
mid-May: FIRST LEGO League Challenge team registration opens (via FIRST Dashboard)
early-August: Season details released and kits begin to ship AND Iowa event registration opens
August: Team practices begin
Nov-Jan: Qualifier Tournament Events
February: State Championships at Iowa State University
April-June: Invitationals and International Events
Steps to Starting a Team
- Recruit two adult coaches 18 years or older.
- Recruit 2 to 10 youth between the ages of 9 and 14 (grades 4-8). Youth may be on only one team; however, a coach may lead multiple teams.
- Investigate grants and funding options. Many of these grants must be obtained PRIOR to ordering season materials.
- Register as a team and order season materials from the FIRST Dashboard website.
- Meet regularly as a team.
- Register and participate in an official Iowa Challenge Qualifier to celebrate what you’ve learned and compete with other teams.
Estimated Costs
Start-up Costs:
LEGO Education SPIKE Prime Kit: $533.90 + shipping and handling
Supplies to build a competition table: ~$80
*LEGO Education Mindstorms/EV3 or NXT robot kits are now retired but may be used at FIRST LEGO League competitions.
Annual Costs:
FIRST Team Registration: $250 + shipping and handling
Season Challenge Set: $95 + shipping and handling
Iowa Qualifier Registration: $100 (through October 15th), $125 after that
Grants and Funding
If you want to start a team but need financial assistance, grants are available through FIRST sponsors. Keep in mind that most grants require you to apply before registering as a team with FIRST.
FIRST also offers some fundraising ideas along with access to grants and scholarships offered locally, regionally, and nationally by outside corporations and companies.
2025-2026 Grant Opportunities
Many of the upcoming season’s grant opportunities will be announced at the end of the summer. New grant availability is also announced via our emailed Team Blast Newsletter. You can sign up to receive this below.
The John Deere Foundation provides support for FIRST teams and events in two ways:
- Providing funding to support FIRST strategic events and FIRST teams through this grant application and through FIRST Program Delivery Partners outside the U.S. and Canada for FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge.
- Providing funding supporting our John Deere employee volunteers as FIRST mentors and event volunteers through our Power for Good, Employee Giving Program. Employee earn rewards for the time they volunteer that they can donate to FIRST including to FIRST teams along with receiving 100% matches on any donations they make.
Funding levels will vary for new and returning teams based on team financial need. The grants cover costs normally paid to FIRST by teams such as team registration, robot kits or parts, and field setup kits. Examples of costs that are not covered with John Deere grants include registration for local FIRST events, open events, travel costs, and team shirts.
Key factors considered in evaluating grant applications are:
- Associated with a school (public or private) or 501(c)(3) non-profit in the U.S. or a registered charity outside the U.S.
- Team in John Deere Inspire home community
- Level of support for underserved and underrepresented students including rural
- Supported by John Deere employee mentor(s) or requested with grant
- Any FIRST team with a confirmed John Deere mentor for the 2025 – 2026 season are encouraged to apply for a grant regardless of need or location.
To be considered for a John Deere FIRST team grant, teams must apply and get approval for the John Deere FIRST grant PRIOR to completing (paying for) registration. You can register with FIRST but SHOULD NOT PAY for your registration as you will forfeit receiving a John Deere grant. The deadlines to apply, assuming budget is still available, are as follows:
- FIRST LEGO League Discover apply by December 20, 2025 (U.S. & Canada only)
- FIRST LEGO League Explore apply by December 20, 2025 (U.S. & Canada only)
- FIRST LEGO League Challenge apply by September 27, 2025 (U.S. & Canada only)
You can find the application at this link.
Team Blast Newsletter
We send out a biweekly newsletter to adult coaches, mentors, administrators, and friends.
When a team is registered for the season via the FIRST Dashboard, coaches and administrators are automatically added to this list.
Not registered yet? No problem.
You can sign up for our mailing list at any time.