[MEMOS] FRC Mentor Memos, September 2025

No more waiting...the REBUILT schedule is here!

We don’t want summer to be over, but we ARE looking forward to the official FRC season in New England! We are hosting 12 district events this year, with more events scheduled for Weeks 2 and 4. With a relatively late Kickoff date of January 10, 2026, the entire competition season is pushed back by a week. Week 1 doesn’t start in February (or right after) next year!

In addition to bringing back North Shore, we are returning to Bedford, NH, for the first time since 2019 and we have a brand new venue in Billerica, MA. We also return to Falmouth, ME, but since it’s the only qualifier in Maine, it will be called Pine Tree. Enjoy the “week off” before DCMP at The Big E (we know you’ll be working hard on robots and event prep!)

EVENT REGISTRATION STARTS SEPT. 25!

Recordings Available: 2025 NEMC Keynotes + Sessions

Thank you to everyone to made the trip to the second annual New England Mentor Conference, including our presenters, panelists, event volunteers, planning committee, hosts at WPI and of course our presenting sponsor, Onshape by PTC! We're excited to bring the event back in 2026 and welcome presentation applications any time.

Though we love seeing everyone in person, we want to make sure the amazing content is available to all. Keynotes and session recordings are available on YouTube and our website (fun fact: the sessions from 2024 are here too!)

USE YOUR DAY OFF TO BINGE WATCH

Special appearance by FIRST CEO Chris Moore!

The 2nd Annual CT Manufacturing Forum—the region’s premier gathering of manufacturing leaders, innovators, and changemakers—has a special guest providing a keynote: FIRST CEO Chris Moore! A collaboration of the CT Office of Manufacturing, American Manufacturing Hall of Fame, CT Center for Advanced Technology, CONNSTEP, ReadyCT, and the U.S. Small Business Administration, this event is designed to tackle the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing manufacturers today. Local FIRST teams and NE FIRST leadership will be part of the CCAT exhibit in the lobby.

📅 September 11, 2025, 7:30 AM – 3:30 PM

📍 Connecticut Convention Center

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FORUM

Resource: New England Team Practice Field Directory

Teams throughout Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut have larger FRC practices fields that are open to visits from other teams. These spaces help all teams level up together! Each one is a little different, so we've pulled together everything about the open fields into one new directory. We're excited to welcome the newest addition to this list: a half-field at the University of Bridgeport! To add additional locations, please fill out this form

CHECK OUT THE DIRECTORY

Dig deeper into district-wide resources:

Show your New England spirit with your very own WE ARE NE banner for your pit or shop! Order by September 8 to have yours ready for October events:

PLACE YOUR ORDER

Sign up for alerts when emails to Lead Mentors and reminders to teams are posted to our website's TEAM page

TEAM WEBSITE

Join almost 800 mentors from all over NE in Slack! Find state info like #ma-frc or topics like #mechanical and more

MENTOR SLACK

Our SmugMug albums have photos from the mentor conference, MA/CT States, and all 2025 REEFSCAPE events!

NEF SMUGMUG

What else do you want to see in these memos? Email sspain@nefirst.org or use nefirst.org/feedback to share ideas!