The Virginia DC FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Tournament was held at the Blacksburg High School in December.
Challenge and Explore level teams competed for various awards and a chance to complete at the state championship. The Blacksburg tournament was co-hosted by New River Robotics Association, FIRST Tech Challenge Team 4924 and FIRST Robotics Competition Team 401. There were 18 FLL Challenge and three FLL Explore teams, a majority from southwest Virginia.
Local winners from this FLL tournament advanced to the VA-DC FLL Championship at James Madison University Jan. 10-11, 2026. Teams 46108, the Night Owls, and 70668, the Andromeda are sponsored by the NRRA and are among 14 other FLL teams in the New River Valley.
At the Blacksburg tournament, volunteers were present to see how elementary and middle school aged students design, build and program LEGO based robots to solve missions themed around archaeology called Unearthed. Teams of up to ten children, with at least two adult coaches, attempt any of fifteen challenges with an autonomous robot to score points in two and half minutes on a playing field table.
Youth gain real-world problem-solving experiences that every artifact uncovered holds a story. Each tool, each innovation, each work of art connects us to the people and ideas that came before us. Using STEM skills and teamwork, teams made discoveries of their own. Since the season began in August 2025, students engaged in research, problem-solving, and engineering before presenting to judges their unique solutions to problems that archaeologists encounter.
FIRST is the world’s leading youth robotics community, delivering youth robotics competitions that inspire innovation, build confidence, and prepare young people for life. Discover what drives our global movement. Founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology is a global non-profit organization robotics program for ages 5-18 years old.
The NRRA is also a non-profit group organized by local employees, parents and students to promote STEM in the NRV through robotics and local events. For more information, please visit newriverrobotics.org.
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