Welcome Current and Future Volunteers!
San Diego FTC and our youth are so thankful and dependent on your commitment to their growth by volunteering your time and energy for this Program!
By volunteering you'll personally:
Inspire future engineers and leaders
Experience the thrill of competition
Build connections with amazing students and mentors
Give back to your community in a fun, high-energy environment
San Diego FTC and our youth are so thankful and dependent on your commitment to their growth by volunteering your time and energy for this Program!
By volunteering you'll personally:
Inspire future engineers and leaders
Experience the thrill of competition
Build connections with amazing students and mentors
Give back to your community in a fun, high-energy environment
Here are some exciting roles you can volunteer for:
Roles needed for our meets one weekend a month November through March!
Roles needed for our meets in February and March!
General Requirements & Policies
Roles needed for our meets one weekend a month November through March!
- Referees/Scorekeeper: Our most in demand and rewarding role. Monitor matches live on the field! Track scoring and directly interact with the teams on the field!
- Robot & Field Inspectors: Inspects team robots for safety, sizing, and rules compliance prior to competition, and ensures competition fields meet official specs at the beginning of the day. A great role for volunteers who want to work directly with teams inspection their hardware before match play.
- FIRST Technical Advisors (FTA) & Control System Advisor (CSA): Oversees playing field technical operations, wireless integrity, the Field Management System (FMS), and hardware/software troubleshooting. This person works behind the scene to ensure teams are ready to compete and helps them succeed by assisting with any on field troubleshooting! We need FTAs/CSAs at one weekend a month November through March!
Roles needed for our meets in February and March!
- Judge: Evaluates team engineering portfolios, pit interviews, and robot design presentations to determine award recipients. Typical commitment includes two weekends usually in February and March for a full day commitment.
- Dean’s List Interviewer / Reviewer: Conducts interviews for nominees of the prestigious FIRST Dean’s List Award. This is usually a one day event in late January or February
General Requirements & Policies
- Age & Training: Minimum age requirements vary by role (ranging from youth/teen-eligible roles like Queuer to adult-preferred/required technical and key roles like FTA or Head Referee). Many roles require pre-event webinars, online certification tests, or day-of guidance.
- Youth Protection: All volunteers aged 18 and older in the U.S. and Canada must complete the annual Youth Protection Screening (background check) and youth protection training via their FIRST Dashboard.
There are 3 ways to Volunteer!
1) Come to a Volunteer orientation at our facility "The Hub" 9420 Activity Road Suite H, San Diego, CA 92126 on the following dates!
Thursday October 29 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Thursday November 12 6:00pm - 8:00pm
1) You can email us at [email protected] if you want to learn more!
2) Register directly at www.firstinspires.org by searching for local events and complete the required training associated for a role!
If you are planning to sign up, let us know your preferred type of role!
1) Come to a Volunteer orientation at our facility "The Hub" 9420 Activity Road Suite H, San Diego, CA 92126 on the following dates!
Thursday October 29 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Thursday November 12 6:00pm - 8:00pm
1) You can email us at [email protected] if you want to learn more!
2) Register directly at www.firstinspires.org by searching for local events and complete the required training associated for a role!
If you are planning to sign up, let us know your preferred type of role!
What do I have to do to Volunteer long term?
In order to protect our Youth, Volunteers need to complete the following required by law training in order to volunteer long term (so if you want to try it out first, please just send us an email!)
1) FIRST specific Youth Protection Training and Background checks
(this process will be directed via the www.firstinspires.org using their vendors)
2) California specific Mandated Reporter Training and LiveScan check (does not have a reoccurring requirement) - full details are at this link:
https://www.sdftc.org/calrequirements.html
3) Sign up for a San Diego FTC event and complete and position specific training! We will either send you the direct links to volunteer through or you can use the "find events" process on the FIRST website!
In order to protect our Youth, Volunteers need to complete the following required by law training in order to volunteer long term (so if you want to try it out first, please just send us an email!)
1) FIRST specific Youth Protection Training and Background checks
(this process will be directed via the www.firstinspires.org using their vendors)
2) California specific Mandated Reporter Training and LiveScan check (does not have a reoccurring requirement) - full details are at this link:
https://www.sdftc.org/calrequirements.html
3) Sign up for a San Diego FTC event and complete and position specific training! We will either send you the direct links to volunteer through or you can use the "find events" process on the FIRST website!