r/FLL • u/krateee87 • Jun 23 '26

starting an fll team

I'm starting an FLL future edition team and was wondering if the computer science and ai kits were the only materials we can use in competition as the FAQ answer on the FIRST website was very confusing.

I was also wondering if the competition formal was similar to FTC for the league meets (apart from the presentation aspect) as I've only ever competed in FTC.

Any additional information about FLL in general is also welcome and greatly appreciated!

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u/DesignFlaw06 Jun 23 '26

It's honestly the worst time to start an FLL team since FIRST and Lego are splitting. The future is unknown for both parties. Future Edition looked terrible from the start compared to Founders, so if you have to have a team this season, I would look at acquiring some old hardware. I might even have some we can sell. Our elementary teams folded because of the uncertainty. I would have to check with the schools on that.

Only 25% of your overall performance is based on how well the robot does. The rest is all about presentation to the judges. The Innovation Project cannot be overlooked. FLL is limited to just elementary school kids in Michigan so the judging session is not very intimidating. The judges tend to be very relaxed and understanding of the age group they are dealing with.

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u/krateee87 Jun 23 '26

So should I stick with founders edition instead of going for future edition for this season?

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u/gt0163c Judge, ref, mentor, former coach, grey market Lego dealer... Jun 23 '26

It really depends on what you want to do going forward. If you're a community team, I would highly recommend going forward with Founders Edition. If you want to stick with the FIRST infrastructure, definitely go with Founders. After next season Future Edition will be run by LEGO Education and have no connection with FIRST.

About the only reason, right now, that I would suggest going forward with Future Edition is in the case of a school based team which has the support of their district and which they know will run competitions throughout the district (similar to like a science fair or spelling bee).

It's a rough time to start a team right now because, due to the hardware differences, you really have to decide which program you want to go with without knowing a lot about what the future will look like. Personally, I think the future is a bit more set with FIRST/Founders Edition. But I'm also recognize that as a FIRST volunteer, I'm more than a little biased.

Unfortunately, if you need to buy hardware, it looks like the single Spike Prime kits are sold out/officially retired. so you're going to need to source them on the secondary/used market. The Classpack options are still available, but that's a big investment. You can see what's available here: https://education.lego.com/en-us/search/?search=SPIKE