The Compass Award recognizes an adult coach or mentor who has given outstanding guidance and support to a team throughout the year and demonstrates to the team what it means to be a Gracious Professional. The winner of the Compass Award will be chosen from candidates nominated by FIRST Tech Challenge student team members, via a 40-60 second video submission. The video must highlight how their mentor has helped them become an inspirational team. The video should emphasize what sets the mentor apart.

Requirement 1: Team must be able to clearly articulate this mentor's contribution to the team and explain what sets this mentor apart.

Requirement 2: Submission must be in video format and meet the following requirements:

1. Submitted by 30 January 2026 at 04:59 UTC
2. Be a publicly-accessible video (ex. Unlisted or Public on YouTube) — this is a deliberate change to the official rules due to the difficulty of accepting video uploads
3. One video submission per team per event (videos can be updated or changed between events)
4. All music must be used with permission from the copyright owners and be indicated in the video credits
5. Videos cannot be longer than 60 seconds, including credits

Teams are encouraged to review the FIRST Branding and Style Guidelines before creating their video.

If not all of your teams are listed, it could mean:

• Your account may not have the same email address as you use in the FIRST Dashboard. Ensure you register and confirm this address in your settings.
• You have not yet paid this season's registration fee with FIRST®.
• Your region's Program Delivery Partner may not have imported team data since your team finished registering with FIRST or since coaching information was updated. Contact them to check on the status of your team.

Make sure the video is publicly accessible (ex. Unlisted or Public on YouTube or visible to anyone using the link on Google Drive). You can verify this by opening the video in a private or incognito window. It must remain accessible until the Compass Award is presented at the event.

Make sure the video is publicly accessible (ex. Unlisted or Public on YouTube or visible to anyone using the link on Google Drive). You can verify this by opening the video in a private or incognito window. It must remain accessible until the Compass Award is presented at the event.