Welcome volunteers! No matter how you engage with our community, we look forward to welcoming you to the FUN!

We know that some of these roles can seem intimidating. Please be assured that you will be supported through training and day-of-event activities. We do our best to make sure you are surrounded by other volunteers helping to get the tasks done.

Most volunteer areas include a lead volunteer. This is someone who is quite familiar with your role and will be there to support you, the teams, and the event. No technical skills or previous experience is required.

Unaffiliated volunteers

If you are an individual that does not have a direct affiliation with a team at a particular event, we need you to please volunteer as a Judge or a Referee. It is so important to have unaffiliated volunteers serve in these roles. The more volunteers we have in these roles, the easier it is on everyone.

Judge

You get face-to-face time with these amazing student engineers. You serve on a panel with other judges and are not alone in the process. We want judges from all different backgrounds. Examples include communication, education, planning, teamwork, technical, etc. FIRST provides an online certification course with a short quiz. ORTOP provides an additional evening training session so you are familiar with the flow, key questions to ask, judging methods, paperwork, etc. You also get a day-of-event morning meeting with the judge advisor and your fellow judges. We want you to feel supported and prepared.

Age Preference: 18+

Referee

You get the best view of the robot game for those magic moments. You serve at the field with other referees and are not alone for scoring. FIRST provides an online certification course with a short quiz. ORTOP provides an additional evening training session so you are familiar with the flow, common game strategies, scoring software, etc. You also get a day-of-event preparation meeting with the head referee and your fellow referees. We want you to feel supported and prepared.

Age Preference: 18+

FTC Inspector

You get to see the detailed mechanisms of these amazing robots. There is a detailed checklist to follow and teams are able to go back to the pit and modify elements so that they pass inspection. Also, your job is mostly complete within the first few hours of the event. FIRST provides an online certification course with a short quiz.You get a day-of-event meeting with the head inspector and your fellow inspectors to sync before inspections start. We want you to feel supported and prepared.

Age Preference: 18+

Tournament Director

If you love structured event planning, this role is for you. Optionally, this is a great role for partners or friends to take on together. FIRST provides a manual and description of the event and the flow of the day. ORTOP often has sync meetings to help with any challenges, share some best known methods, and ensure the Tournament Directors are set up to deliver a fantastic event.

Age Preference: 21+

Volunteer Coordinator

This role is mostly completed in the weeks leading up to the event. Recruitment of volunteers is the foundation of delivering these events. Help us continue to grow our community and encourage new friends to join the fun. You use the Volunteer Management System provided by FIRST to assign and communicate with volunteers.

Age Preference: 21+

Hospitality

If food is your love language, please consider this role. Our volunteers return when they feel cared for and hospitality is the key. Budget and needs are dependent on the specific event. We have seen some really creative ways to cater to our volunteers. Everyone is always so appreciative of your hard work.

Age Preference: 21+

Pit Admin

In this role, you will work with your pit runners and the coaches to get teams where they need to be early. This is so vital to the schedule of our day. If you appreciate a schedule and feel success when tracking the day through that schedule, please consider this role.

Age Preference: 21+

Other Day-of Event Volunteers

Many other roles are available with little to no training needed. If you don’t quite know what you want to do, there’s an “Assign as needed” role to select when you are signing up for an event.

Age Preference: 18+

Future Lead Volunteers

Have you been to a few events and have interest in having more fun with ORTOP? Your journey is just starting. Let us know by dropping a new to volunteer@ortop.org.

Additional Information

For additional information choose one of the following

Next Steps