There are 14,000+ FIRST LEGO League teams worldwide! In our FIRST Mid-Atlantic footprint, we have about 700+ teams. Teams spend several months designing, building, programming, and testing their LEGO Challenge robots and Explore displays. Teams attend FLL Challenge competitions (grades 4-8) and FLL Explorer Festivals (grades 1-3) in late November, December, and January. Volunteers run all of these events. Events are usually a day long, and many job opportunities exist.
As a volunteer, you can take on any number of roles.
We REALLY need event judges! Learn what it is all about!!!
If I am the coach of a team, can I judge?
As a coach, this is the perfect opportunity to see what good teams look like. However, if your team is at the event, please do not judge. When you do eventually judge, we expect you to be honest when evaluating other teams.
As a coach, we encourage you to invite your parents to volunteer and possibly Judge. We need many voices in this process.
Remember, it is not about an award or trophy. It is about helping build students who are not afraid to make mistakes, are persistent, try hard, and can tell you all about what they learned. This is a gift that will last them a lifetime. Ask any judge or volunteer. We know our future is bright because we have seen these students succeed. Please help us do that.
What does a judge do?
The position we need most is FLL Challenge Judges. We need people outside our world to help us judge at FLL Challenge Events and your diverse experience to help us determine our event leaders.
Some say, “I do not know anything about robots. So how can I judge?” This is not rocket science!!! It all comes down to talking to the students to see if they understand what they are doing. You will undergo FIRST judge training and additional event training before your event. If you are a team coach, you will gain valuable insight into what good teams need to be successful.
How do we actually Judge?
As a Judge, you will be part of a Judging room. There will be two to four judges in total. There are no experts! Teams will come in for a ½ hour session. To help you, we provide you with…
What are you supposed to be looking for? The Rubric spells it all out. Each Rubric item is graded from 1 to 4, which generates the final score for the judging portion.
We want to know…
- Did the team do the work?
- Does the team understand what they are talking about?
- Do they respect each other during the discussion?
- Do they look like they are having fun doing it?
Isn’t this process stressful for the students?
This process can be stressful for the students, so we like to put them at ease. We want to tell them up front, “It is ok to make mistakes!!!!” If they make mistakes and get flustered, we will say, “Stop, take a deep breath, and then continue.” Sometimes, we tell them if they are not making mistakes, they are not trying hard enough. We want them to have a good experience. We want to help them grow up. This experience alone pays excellent dividends as they get older.
Many of these students are not good at sports. This experience gives them the same learning as being part of a sports team. They are challenged, and they fail, but they keep trying. We challenge them to learn new and really cool things. At the end of the season, they may not do as well as they wanted, but ask them what they learned! They will give you an earful.
How do we tally up their scores?
When the team leaves, the judges will all have 15 minutes to discuss and score the team’s performance. The scoring is done using a standard FLL Challenge Judging Rubric. Later, after the judges eat lunch, they go into deliberation. Here, each Judging room will promote teams for various awards based on their performance in the judging room.
Events With Critical Need of Volunteers
FIRST Mid-Atlantic PA-East FLL Challenge Championship
FIRST Dashboard Search: PA-East (Jan. 10, 2026)
PA State FLL Challenge Championship
FIRST Dashboard Search: PA-State (Feb. 14, 2025)
For questions, contact Frank Larkin, Phone: 215-823-9593, Email: [email protected]
Updated: 1/3/2025
Steps to Become a Volunteer
Create a FIRST Account
FIRST provides a Volunteer Registration Guide to help you navigate its registration system. As mentioned, this system is used worldwide to register volunteers and coaches and to run events. When selecting our events, you look up using…
- Northern NJ to see all our NJ-North events, including the NJ-North Challenge Championship
- PA-East to see all our Eastern PA Events, including PA-East Challenge Championship
- PA-State for the PA-State FLL Challenge Championship (Feb.)
PA Act 153 Clearances (PA Events Only)
Volunteering at an event in PA will require additional clearances from the State of Pennsylvania. These are easy to do and are good for 60 months. These are the same as what you would need if you were a substitute teacher in a school in PA. Please refer to the Youth Protection and Clearances to get that process started.
Important: Please look at the Flow Chart to know your necessary clearances.
Selecting an Event to Volunteer
If you volunteer for FMA FLL Events, you will look them up in your FIRST dashboard.
Step 0: Sign into your FIRST dashboard. The guide above explains it all.
Step 1: Click the Volunteer Registration Tab, then Select Event Volunteering
Step 2: Click the Clear Filters button on the right
Step 3: Click the FIRST Programs you want… Explore, or Challenge, or Both
Step 4: Scroll to the bottom of the screen, and under Name, enter these search words to view our regions’ events.
- Northern NJ to see all our NJ-North events, including the NJ-North Challenge Championship
- PA-East to see all our Eastern PA Events, including PA-East Challenge Championship
- PA-State for the PA-State FLL Challenge Championship (Feb.)
Step 5: Select the event and follow the instructions to select your possible jobs.
Step 6: If selected, you may need to undergo training on your FIRST dashboard. Eventually, the event’s volunteer coordinator will contact you to get you all set.
As a volunteer, you will receive a volunteer shirt and have access to the volunteer lounge for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Finally, you will receive thanks from all involved.
Questions, contact Frank Larkin, Phone: 215-823-9593, Email: [email protected]