West Tennessee
FIRST LEGO League Challenge

Starting a Team

Thinking about starting a FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge team? Great! You don't need to be an engineer or a programmer to coach: the season materials walk you through every meeting. Here's what you need to know before you register.

Already registered? See Getting Started →

Who can be on a team

Up to 10 studentsAges 9-14. A student can be on only one team.
2 adult coachesBoth register with FIRST and complete the Youth Protection screening. A coach can coach more than one team.
A place to meetRoom for a 4×8 ft practice table, and a laptop with internet access.

What teams do this season

Robot GameBuild and program an autonomous LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime robot to solve missions on the BIOGLOW™ field in 2½ minutes.
Innovation ProjectResearch a real-world problem about biodiversity and design a solution to share with judges.
Core ValuesTeamwork, discovery and Gracious Professionalism®, in everything the team does.

Most teams meet once or twice a week for 1 to 2 hours over 10 to 12 weeks. All of this season's guides, rulebooks and videos are on the 2026-27 Challenge page.

What it costs

  • FIRST team registration, $285 per season. Gives your team its official team number and digital access to the Team Meeting Guide, Robot Game Rulebook and Engineering Notebook.
  • BIOGLOW Challenge Set, $105. The season's field mat and LEGO mission models. Needed every season; order it with your registration.
  • LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime set. Not included, and reused every season. If your team needs help finding one, email us.
  • Practice table. Built from lumber with FIRST's table building instructions.
  • West TN Regional Activity Fee, $125 per team. Covers all our local events, including the Championship. We email the invoice to coaches after the team registers.
  • A laptop that can run the free LEGO Education SPIKE App. If it belongs to a school or company, make sure you're allowed to install it.

Prices are FIRST's 2026-27 prices; see FIRST pricing and payment for the latest, including Class Packs and the new Future Edition.

How to start

  1. Find your second coach and your students.
  2. Create a FIRST account at firstinspires.org, then in the Dashboard choose Create a New Team and pick FIRST LEGO League Challenge.
  3. Check out in the FIRST Storefront to pay registration and order your Challenge Set.
  4. Read Getting Started for your first few meetings, then follow our Steps for Successful Season to pay the Regional Activity Fee and get ready for the Championship.

More from FIRST: Start a FIRST LEGO League team.

Questions?

Questions about West TN events, fees or getting started: email us at fll@nobox.org. We're happy to help, especially if this is your first season.

Questions about your FIRST account, team registration or Youth Protection screening: contact FIRST through the help link in your FIRST Dashboard.