Guides

The parts of running an FTC team nobody hands you a manual for. Written for the student or mentor who has to do the thing this week, not for a general audience.

Starting out

Your first season, week by week Kickoff to your first qualifier, for teams who have never done it 11 min read Choosing your events How qualifiers, leagues and championships fit together, and how to pick 8 min read Recruiting and onboarding members Where members actually come from, and why the first month decides who stays 8 min read Who does what on an FTC team Real roles, what each owns, and splitting a team of eight versus thirty 8 min read

Playing the game

How to scout an FTC event What to record, what to ignore, and how to pick an alliance partner 9 min read How to plan an FTC build season Kickoff to your first qualifier without the last-week panic 9 min read How to read a new game manual First-pass extraction, the sections rookies skip, and building a scoring table 8 min read Turning a game into a strategy Points per cycle, why density beats totals, and deciding what not to build 9 min read Picking a drivetrain Mecanum, tank and swerve, honestly, with the maintenance cost nobody mentions 9 min read

Judging and awards

How to write an FTC engineering portfolio What judges are looking for, and what they see instead 10 min read How FTC awards actually work Every award, how judging happens, and which you can realistically win year one 9 min read Outreach that wins Connect and Inspire What counts, what judges see through, and documenting it as it happens 8 min read

Running the team

How to get FTC sponsors Who to ask, what to ask for, and why most letters fail 10 min read How to budget an FTC season What it costs, where it goes wrong, and how to hand it over 8 min read Running a meeting that isn't wasted Agendas, standing items, and ending with assigned work 6 min read Safety and tool training Shop rules and training records, for coaches and mentors 7 min read Handing your team over What to write down in May so the team survives graduation 7 min read

Copyable templates → Scouting metrics → The free toolkit →