Frequently Asked Questions
VA/DC FIRST LEGO League (FLL)
1) How do I get my child on an FLL team?
New teams can be formed anytime before registration closes in mid-September. If registration has already closed for the year, you and your child(ren) can attend one of the regional qualifying tournaments held in November to see the program in action - they are a lot of fun for spectators and a good way to connect with others who are interested in/involved with the program. There are many regional tournaments spread across Virginia and details can be found on our tournaments page. After the season winds down you may want to join the VA/DC FLL email mailing list to see if you can find others in your area looking to start a new team or an existing team looking for new members (instructions for joining are available on our Contact Us page).
2) Can I (a member of the general public) attend a tournament as a spectator?
Yes! You can attend a tournament free of charge and are invited to observe the robot challenge portion of the competition (the judging rooms for other aspects of the competition are off limits to all spectators). Details regarding location, time, etc. for the regional tournaments can be found on our Tournaments page - if they aren't there now, they will be published as soon as they are available.
3) What are the age divisions and what do they mean for my team?
If all your team members are 11 or younger as of January 1, then they are a Division 1 team. If at least one team member is 12 or older as of January 1, then your team is in Division 2. One exception to this - if a team that is designated division 1 by team member ages would like to "play up" and compete as a division 2 team, they may elect to do so by sending an email to questions@vadcfll.org. However, under no circumstances can a division 2 team compete in division 1. Teams may register for any regional tournament, regardless of division, and they will be competing against other teams within their division. Division will be automatically assigned once team member birth dates are filled in.
4) Does our team need to fulfill all elements of the challenge to participate in a VA/DC FLL tournament?
Teams will be judged on all four elements of the challenge - the research project, robot design, robot performance, and teamwork - and must come prepared for each of these sessions in order to participate in a tournament. The FLL challenge is designed to give students a well rounded experience and the spirit of the organization is about the journey that the kids experience through full participation in the program.
Note: The robot performance part of the challenge includes several different missions. Teams are not required to complete all missions in order to compete in this part of the challenge. Teams may choose to attempt any subset of the missions for which they feel prepared.
Tournament Registration
1) Do I need to enter information for each team member and what if I don't have it available when I register?
Yes - this information will determine what age division your team will compete in and will help us analyze trends at an organizational level to assist in our recruitment efforts in the future. You can register for a tournament without the team member details and update the team data anytime before registration closes.
2) Why are we asked to provide information about the race or ethnicity of team members and are we required to provide it?
This information will be compiled with the other team member data we collect to help apply for grants in future years and to better understand the demographics of our organization. You are not required to provide this for any or all of your team members if you prefer not to, you can simply choose the "not reported" option.