2023 FIRST Robotics Competition Season Kicks Off at LIU Post’s Krasnoff Theater on January 7

The Long Island Regional FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition season will kick off at the Krasnoff Theater at LIU Post, located at 720 Northern Boulevard, Brookville, NY on Saturday, January 7, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. FIRST Robotics Competition teams from across Long Island will gather in anticipation of learning about the upcoming season’s robotics competition. 

Knowing only that this year’s theme is CHARGED UP^SM presented by Haas, the local FIRST teams, and the 4,000 teams representing 35 countries around the world, will receive this year’s game rules via a video feed that will be broadcast at the same time across the globe. 

During the Long Island Kick Off, FIRST^® Long Island, which presents the event, will treat students and parents to presentations from its members and guests regarding the impact of the program on local communities and businesses. Towards the close of the event, each team will collect its kit of parts to construct a 120-pound robot. 

This year, two regional tournaments will be held as part of the FIRST Long Island Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. They will take place on March 20-25, 2023 at Hofstra University’s David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. Each event will serve as a separate regional, with different teams competing in separate alliances and tournament rounds. Some of the teams set to participate in the local regionals will move on to compete at the 2023 FIRST Championship in Houston.

Leading up to the regionals, FIRST Long Island students will work with engineering mentors to apply concepts of math and science learned in the classroom to build their robots. Students will also learn important concepts such as teamwork, problem solving and healthy competition. Many FIRST Long Island students use these skills while pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) studies and careers.

Over the years, FIRST students from Long Island have received millions of dollars in scholarships for higher education. This year, there are 200 scholarship providers who will give students participating in FIRST access to more than $80 million worth of scholarships.

“We are thrilled to get our 2023 season underway and are looking forward to another great kick-off event,” says Larry Toonkel, Co-Director, FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST Long Island. “We are also excited to bring the Long Island Regional back as more teams are looking to be part of our annual event.”

For more information on FIRST Long Island, please visit www.firstlongisland.org.

About FIRST^® 

Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $50 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST^® Robotics Competition for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST^® Tech Challenge for Grades 7-12; and FIRST^® LEGO^® League for Grades PreK-8. Gracious Professionalism^® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.firstinspires.org

About FIRST Long Island

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Long Island is a fully volunteer-run 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1984 by Fred Breithut with the goal of developing partnerships between local high schools and businesses. His goal was to provide students with practical experience and curriculum development, while helping the business community develop its future workforce, which resulted in the formation of over 100 partnerships. In 1999, the inaugural FIRST Long Island robotics tournament featured just eight FIRST^® Robotics Competition high school teams. Since then, the Long Island Regional FIRST^® Robotics Competition has grown to two events with over 80 teams competing each year. FIRST^® Long Island also hosts its annual FIRST^® LEGO League Qualifying and Championship Tournaments and the FIRST^® LEGO League Junior Expos, in which over 2,000 elementary and middle school students from Nassau and Suffolk Counties take part each year. In 2016, the FIRST^® Tech Challenge was added to its roster of programs. For more information about the programs, or to learn how to become a sponsor, visit www.firstlongisland.org.