Referee
Score robot matches against the rulebook, reset the field between rounds, and explain scoring calls to teams. Full training provided.
Be a volunteer
One day. Real impact on a few hundred students.
Volunteers are the reason a tournament feels organised rather than chaotic. You will be briefed, assigned to a role, paired with someone experienced, and looked after.
Most volunteers tell us the same thing afterwards: they came to help and left surprised by how good the students were. Several come back the following season as judges.
Volunteering is open to teachers, engineers, university students, parents and FIRST® alumni. We especially need Arabic and English bilingual volunteers on the pit and queuing roles.
The essentials
- CommitmentOne day, 7am–6pm
- Training2–3 hours, online
- ExperienceFreshers are welcome!
- Minimum age16 with supervision
- ProvidedCertificate
- LocationsDubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi
Roles on the day
What the role actually involves
Queuing and pit runner
Get teams to the right table at the right minute. The single most important role for keeping an event on schedule.
Team host
Shadow two or three teams all day, answer their questions and keep them calm. Popular with first-time volunteers.
Registration and check-in
Greet teams on arrival, issue badges and packs, and manage the front desk through the morning rush.
Scorekeeping and AV
Enter match scores, run the display screens and support the announcer. Suits anyone comfortable with a laptop.
Setup and teardown
Build the fields and pit areas the evening before, and break everything down at the end. Physical, fast, genuinely fun.
Sign up
Put your name down
Tell us roughly when you are free and we will match you to an event. You are not committing to a specific date yet.
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Before the event
Everyone signed up receives a role briefing pack and attends a short training session, online or on site, in the two weeks before the event. No prior FIRST® experience is needed.
Youth protection
All adults working directly with students at UAE events complete the FIRST® youth protection screening and agree to the programme's conduct standards. We will guide you through it.
