From the archive
Memories
Stories from FIRST® in Texas — the volunteers, teams and students
who built the seasons before this one.
For sixteen years the programs in this state were run by FIRST® in Texas, an independent organization of staff, contractors and a great many volunteers. In 2026 that work came back inside FIRST itself, as FIRST Texas. The people did not change. The seasons did not change. But the website that carried the record of them is being switched off.
These 51 stories were on it. They are spotlights, mostly — a volunteer who has judged for a decade, a team that found a way to pay for its season, a student explaining what a robot taught them, an alum describing where it led. Between them they cover 2014 to 2026, which is longer than the old site itself admitted: its final move stamped most of these with the day they were migrated rather than the day they were written.
They were recovered from the Internet Archive and kept here, as close to how they were published as we could manage. Nobody wrote them for a history page. They read better for it.
Some of this is incomplete, and you can help.
Every story now carries the date it was actually published, from 2014 to 2026, and only 20 of the 57 photographs these stories referenced were ever captured by the archive. The rest exist now only in somebody’s own files. If you know when a story happened, who is in a picture, or you have a photograph of your own from that day, the button on any card will take it — no account, one box. Everything is checked by the team before it appears.
12 of 51 in teams.
Teams
Seasons, builds and the odd miracle · 12
March 2026Team Spotlight: FRC Team 457 Grease MonkeysTeam 457 Grease Monkeys is the oldest team in San Antonio and the fifth oldest active team in Texas! Now celebrating their 25th season, the Grease Monkeys are marking the milestone during a year that feels especially fitting. A season of rebuilding, rebranding, and redefining who they are.
January 2026Team Spotlight: FTC Team 11719 Iron HookFTC Team 11719 Iron Hook is a West Texas team that is more than just robots and matches. It is a family that grows together through shared challenges and opportunities, continually refining their design and pushing themselves to be the best each season. Each year gives the team a chance to reconnect
December 2025Team Spotlight: FTC Team 12313 HotDawgsFIRST Tech Challenge team 12313 Hotdawgs is a team defined by spirit, creativity, and a sense of family that fuels everything they do. Ask any member what makes their team unique, and they will tell you it is the dynamic energy they share, the way ideas bounce effortlessly from one person to another- No photo in the archiveNovember 2025Team Spotlight: FRC Team 3005 RoboChargersIf you ask the RoboChargers how they describe themselves, they will tell you they are a high-energy group of students who love solving problems together. Almost like a crew of tech-savvy turtles famously known for their love of pizza, they tackle challenges as a tight-knit team and bring creativity,
- No photo in the archiveSeptember 2015Team Spotlight: FTC 7172 Grows Local Talent[first] from the start has been a strong force for creating community, and you only need to look to the Texas teams to see that.
- No photo in the archiveAugust 2015Team Spotlight: "Fear the Bow" with the Bronc BotzLooking for a way to show off your support for girls in robotics? The Bronc Botz may have your answer. They stole the show at the Alamo Region FTC Championships this past spring with their wonderful outreach and fundraising project.
- No photo in the archiveJuly 2015Team Spotlight: Rock Star Recruiting with Dia De Los Robots"It’s not just robotics; it’s for everyone." This is the mantra that team Dia De Los Robots lives by when considering how to run their robotics program. Each team member gets experience in multiple areas: building, programming, public relations, and leadership. The students were quick to say how pro
- No photo in the archiveJune 2015Team Spotlight: Creative Fundraising with the OutliersOne of the hallmarks of [first] teams is that they never let any obstacles come between the students and their dream. The Outliers, a [first] LEGO League team in Austin, TX, have been hard at work charting their own destiny with the support of Homeaway and their community.
- No photo in the archiveMay 2015Team Spotlight: LASA RoboticsLASA Robotics team 4290 is part of an incredible system of support at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, where the robotics program has a history of over 20 years. Because of this support base and a grant from the Texas Workforce Commission, team 4290 has great opportunities to introduce robotics
- No photo in the archiveMarch 2015Team Spotlight: Austin Robotics Club Takes the ReinsThe Austin Robotics Club, [first] Tech Challenge team 8399, is determined to set their own course, and they are starting with their own robotics organization. Despite this being the first year participating in FTC for some, their team is entirely student-run, with an emphasis on business sense and i
- No photo in the archiveFebruary 2015Team Spotlight: FLL 944 Brings It Home to the CommunityCommunity involvement is the name of the game for FLL team 3, 2, 1…GO! The past 3 years, they have met the [first] LEGO League challenges head on, creating technology solutions to help people from all walks of life: from seniors losing their eyesight to drivers during dangerous storms. This year, th
- No photo in the archiveJanuary 2015Team Spotlight: Allison Dragonots’ Triumph through TeamworkAllison Dragonots FIRST Lego League (FLL) Team # 8963 is a group of talented students who are a combination of ELL (English language learners), transitioning bilingual, and monolingual students. They are all first time participants to the FLL robotics competition.
Recovered from the Internet Archive, September 2026. Dates come from the original site’s own files and from the photographs’ capture dates where those survived; where neither did, the story says so rather than guessing.