To join an FVR team, a student must be signed up and paid (or a payment plan in place) prior to the close of registration.

Registration fees can be made online by credit card or by mailing a check to the PO Box.

The registration cost includes national team registration, Illinois team and qualifier registration, meeting room fees, season t-shirt, a team challenge budget, parts and materials replenishment, and the robotics general funds. Misuse or abuse resulting in damaged pieces will be charged for appropriately.

The registration cost does not cover possible field trip costs. We don’t know what the challenge is going to require and we leave field trip decisions until the end of September.

A limited amount of scholarships are available for those who are in financial need. If a student wants to do robotics, we will make it happen. Begin a discussion with an email to info@foxvalleyrobitcs.com.

All payments are not refundable.

FVR reserves the right to refuse a person from participating in a division. Registrants will be offered a full refund if this occurs.

FVR teams are typically between 5 and 7 students. Teams are formed based on the following priorities:
1.    Participant Requests (friends, siblings, previous teammates)
2.    Grade
3.    School
4.    Town
Additional factors taken into consideration are previous experience in robotics programs and gender.

FVR tends to put rookie members on teams with other rookies members to both preserve the team's Rising All-Star status for competitions and to allow the team members to grow in knowledge and skill together.

A wait list will be created of interested families after the close of registration.

The FVR LegoDogs FIRST LEGO League Challenge season kicks-off in September on the Saturday after Labor Day weekend and after the international challenge release. The season ends in December, January, or February based on the level of competition the team advances to.

4th-5th grade teams meet during the group LegoDogs PM meeting on Saturdays from 12:30pm-2:30pm. Typically, rookie PM teams start the season meeting only during the Saturday meetings. Later in the season, late October or early November, teams may want to meet one additional time per week to practice the Challenge Project or other judged areas. Experienced 4th/5th grade teams are expected to have additional weekly meetings by the end of September or beginning of October to focus on the Challenge Project. Additional meetings or sessions are encouraged closer to qualifying tournaments to practice the judged categories.

6th-8th grade teams meeting during the group LegoDogs AM meeting session on Saturdays from 8:30am-12pm. Rookie teams in the AM session are encouraged to meet one additional time per week by the middle of October. Additional meetings are encouraged towards the end of November to prepare for upcoming tournaments. Experienced AM teams are expected to set their own schedule while still meeting the expectations placed on an experienced team. Typically, these teams meet 1-2 additional times per week throughout the season as a full team or as sub-teams.

The Saturday weekly meeting location is at a facility on the east side of St. Charles on Main Street.  

The Saturday meetings are required for all teams. Rookie teams are expected to be in attendance at each meeting while experienced teams are required to be in attendance at least 80% of the time.

Teams typically use Saturday meetings to work on their robot, make decisions as a whole team, practice presentations and talk to other teams. The meeting facilitators use Saturday meetings to teach new concepts, discuss competition rules and guidelines, answer team questions, coordinate presentations from experienced teams, and encourage mentorship between teams.

A detailed division schedule is discussed during the second and third meetings. An overview schedule is handed out to participating members during the first month.

FVR parents are expected to be involved in some way. They are expected to work together to coach the team unless a parent or two decides to step-up and be a coach. Teams cannot be in attendance on Saturday meetings without at least one parent in attendance in addition to a coach. Below are a few of the possible parent involvement scenarios:
1.    One coach with additional involved parents who offer support whether it be helping the team troubleshoot, time management, coordination, planning, or as assistant coaches.
2.    Two coaches where one coach may be a "robot" coach and guide the team in the robot game and technical presentation while the other coordinates the Challenge Project.
3.    Two coaches who share the work equally
4.    More than two coaches who share the work
Typically, FVR's more successful teams have multiple coaches who share the work. It provides a better dynamic for the team to grow and learn from.

FVR coaches are expected to follow these guidelines:
1.    Kids do the work.
2.    Coaches are meant to be guides: help lead students to the answers while never giving them the answer.
3.    Be fair and consistent while mediating team discussions.
4.    Help the team divide work and make sure every voice and contribution is heard.
5.    Push the team to learn new topics, grow as individuals, and grow as a team.
6.    Kids do the work.
Coaches of experienced or older teams are expected to step back and let their students manage themselves within the capabilities of the team.

A great coach is one who can help students learn in a fun and engaging way while encouraging them to try new things and push the boundaries of their knowledge base. Great coaches do not have to know how to build a LEGO robot or program it to do a mission; great coaches can analyze a robot task or action and help their students break it down into manageable pieces. Great coaches help guide their students in effective time management and communication.

FVR teams are expected to:
1.    Do the work.
2.    Take mistakes in-stride: they are learning tools, learn from them.
3.    Share the work with your fellow teammates.
4.    Encourage yourself, your teammates, and fellow students.
5.    Help guide your teammates or other teams to answers if they need help.
6.    Push yourselves to learn new ideas and concepts.
7.    Live the FLL Core Values both in robotics and in your everyday life.

Rookie teams use the experience of their parents/coaches to help guide them and instruct them. Experienced teams are expected to show leadership skills and take some of the responsibilities of their coaches onto their own shoulders.

FVR teams are also expected to:
•    Help fellow FVR teams.
•    Be respectful and mindful of our Saturday meetings including discussions, speakers, other teams and your own team.
•    Be responsible: take initiative to clean up your own messes but help others as well, help set-up/clean-up/tear-down the meeting room, and behave well.
•    Be respectful of the equipment and facility including robots and field kits.

Teams are tasked with designing a custom robot to compete on the competition table designed around the current season's theme. In Illinois, teams have between August and December to build and program their robot before a qualifying tournament. Teams also have to perform in three additional areas: Core Values, Robot Design and the Challenge Project. The judged presentation is put together by the team in advance for evaluation at the qualifier event.

Core Value aspects portray how the team functioned during the season including, but not limited to:
•    Team spirit
•    Integration of FLL values into daily life
•    Efficiency
•    Respect
•    Inclusion of all team members

The Robot Design portion is a technical discussion describing and outlining the important aspects of the robot such as:
•    Durability
•    Efficiency
•    Programming Quality
•    Strategy
•    Innovation

The Challenge Project is an essential part of the competition in which teams identify and research a problem involving the year’s theme, create an innovative solution to solve or reduce the effects of the identified problem, and share the problem and solution with others. Teams are scored on the
•    Research: problem identification, sources, analysis, and review of existing solutions
•    Solution: explanation, innovation, and implementation
•    Presentation: sharing, creativity and effectiveness

FVR teams participate in the Intra club scrimmages in November. The three scrimmages occur on back-to-back weekends (either Saturday or Sunday) ending the weekend prior to Thanksgiving. Scrimmages are an essential part to being an FVR FLL Challenge team. They provide teams the opportunity to practice their presentations and Q&A sessions as well as run their robots in a timed setting. Teams are expected to have at least 4 parents in attendance: three to be judges for the scrimmages and one parent to walk around with the team.

With multiple LegoDogs teams and limited spots at tournaments, including the Batavia qualifier, FVR teams attend different qualifiers. Two to three LegoDogs teams go to a qualifier to compete, and so there are between four and six qualifiers that we attend.

For information on Illinois Qualifiers: FIRST Illinois Robotics qualifiers
For information on the Batavia Qualifier: Batavia FLL Challenge Qualifier

To attend the Illinois sectional, a team must place in the top percentage (TBD) of the qualifier which they attend and meet all judging qualifications.

Sectionals are new to Illinois in the 2023-2024 season. An introduction to sectionals can be found here: FIRST Illinois Robotics events

To attend the Illinois Championship, a team must place in the top percentage (TBD) of the sectional which they attend and meet all judging qualifications.

Information regarding the Illinois State Championship can be found here: FIRST Illinois Robotics state championship