TWIST Robotics Competition

October 11th, 2025

TWIST (Together, Women in STEM Thrive) is a FIRST Robotics event with a twist, centered around creating an empowering and inclusive environment for girls to take their skills to the next level.

Event Information

October 11th, 2025
(Field Setup and Load-In, Practice matches if time permits October 10th)

Event Location

Muskego High School
W185S8750 Racine Ave, Muskego, WI 53150

Mission

This event is dedicated to providing an opportunity for girls to show their strengths in a predominantly male-dominated field. Through this event, we hope to contribute to closing the gender gap in STEM and promoting inclusive team cultures. We are excited to bring a twist to traditional off-season events to inspire women in STEM!

Drive Teams

Drive teams must consist of female/non-binary students, and said students are encouraged to participate in leading roles in all aspects of the competition. There are no restrictions on pit crew or the support in the stands; bring the whole team for an exciting day of robot action!

A ‘drive team’ is defined by FIRST includes individuals such as the two robot operators, human player, technician, and drive coach.

Not enough girls for a drive team?

Still want to participate? We will be helping to facilitate partner teams as well to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to compete! However, we encourage you to use this as an opportunity to recruit and help keep girls engaged in robotics.

Number of Teams

We are aiming to have 28 teams attend at this time. If there is demand for more spots, we will assess that at a later time.

Registration:

Cost: $100 (Reduced from $250 thanks to our awesome sponsors!)

Registration Grant:

TWIST as an event is dedicated to making FIRST and STEM accessible to all. The intention of this grant is to help eliminate a barrier of entry for interested teams so that they are able to provide this opportunity to their students. This grant will cover the registration fee for teams attending the TWIST 2025 FIRST Robotics Competition Event. The teams who receive this grant will remain anonymous. We would like to thank our amazing event sponsors for making this opportunity possible! Link coming soon!

We Need Volunteers!

TWIST 2024 needed over 110 amazing volunteers to run, and we need your help to make this year possible! Full day and time slot roles are available, key volunteer role priority will be assigned to women volunteers. Link coming soon!

Contact Us

Have any questions? Please email us at WarriorBots6421@muskegonorway.org

2025 Currently Registered Teams

Registration for the 2025 TWIST Robotics Competition event will open ~late February. Teams who have competed previously will be emailed early access to the registration form.

Schedule

2024’s schedule is below for reference and is subject to change for 2025.

Friday, October 11th

8:00 am – 6:00 pm Field/Event Set up
4:00 pm – 8:00 pm Team Load-in. When the field is ready, teams can do calibration, connection checks, etc.
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Practice Matches (pending field build completion)

Saturday, October 12th

Awards List

2024’s awards are listed below for reference and is subject to change for 2025.

TWIST & Turn Award – Recognizes a team with exceptional autonomous performance and use of autonomous functions to assist drivers on the field

T’WISTful Thinking Award Presented by Generac – Celebrates a team with innovative designs and use of materials to create a successful and creative mechanism

Tongue TWIST’r Award – Recognizes the team best able to describe and convey technical aspects and design decisions about their robot.

TWIST’d Metal Award Presented by Material Control Solutions – Celebrates the team’s ability to overcome obstacles both on and off the field to achieve a high level of performance.

TWIST It Up! Award Presented by PPG – Celebrates the cohesive imagery of a team and robot during the event.

TWIST & Shout Award – This award recognizes the energy and team spirit of fans in the stands. Be loud and proud of your team, robot and drivers. This award will be judged by our field staff.

TWIST Ties Award Presented by Muskego High School – Celebrates the team that is the most fun to play with and embodies the values of Gracious Professionalism. This award is selected based on peer nominations.

Volunteer of the Year Award – Acknowledges the phenomenal volunteers that make TWIST possible

Student Inspiration Award Presented by CrunchLabs and Milwaukee Tool – Each team can submit one of their girls that they believe exemplifies the spirit of TWIST and FIRST. A short essay for each student will need to be submitted at the event (In the case of partner teams, each team in the partnership may submit one girl). This award comes with a special prize.

FAQ's

What is a partner team?
- A partner team is two teams worth of people working together to compete with one robot with the intention of allowing teams to compete without enough female and nonbinary members for a full drive team. When registering for the event, please note if you would be interested in competing as part of a partner team and we will help facilitate. Partner teams will each only be required to pay half of the registration cost as well.

What counts as the “drive team”?
- We define the drive team as the following 5 team members: Drive coach, Technician, Human Player, and up to two robot Drivers. If you have any questions about this, please send us an email!

Will there be food?
- We will have concessions available on site during the event. There are a few fast-food options in the immediate area if desired?

What ruleset are we playing with?
- TBD for 2025

How will playoffs work?
- We are planning for a FIRST standard double-elimination bracket, pending the number of teams.

Are there awards?
- YES! We will have a number of judged and team nominated awards presented at TWIST. Check out the previous year’s winners to see some that we’ve given in the past.

Are we able to submit two robots?
- As capacity allows, we will allow for registered teams to submit a second robot closer to the event. At this time, we are not planning to offer a lower registration fee for second bots as the overall fee for teams is already sponsor supported.

What will our pit look like?
- Each team will receive a 10×10’ area with power access and floor coverings provided if requested by our host school. We will not have a table provided, so teams are encouraged to bring one if needed. Pits will be located in the same gym as the field.

Our Homecoming is that evening! What can we do?
- We can provide changing areas to students in need, and we work very hard to ensure our event ends on time. Please send us an email if you need any specific accommodations.

How does the Charity Match work?
- This year, we will be hosting an exciting match where six mentors will play in a human match while wearing our TWIST unicorn costumes
- To decide which six teams will get to nominate their mentors, we will be running a LEGO set donation drive to support Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
- Each item your team donates will be collected and counted at load-in and will count as an entrance to a lottery-style selection. Items MUST be new in box/bag per the guidelines we’ve received from Children’s Hospital. You can view the full guidelines and rules here

What if I have a different question?
- Please email us at WarriorBots6421@muskegonorway.org

2024 Results

October 12th, 2024 – Muskego High School, Muskego WI

Event Photos
Match Results
Video Playlist

Team List:

Partner Teams

MKE Metal Maidens
2830 Riverside RoboTigers | Milwaukee WI
8802 Milwaukee United | Milwaukee WI
9425 Intra Milwaukee | Milwaukee WI

AWARD WINNERS

TWIST & Turn Award – 2704 Roaring Robotics | Naperville IL
Recognizes a team with exceptional autonomous performance and use of autonomous functions to assist drivers on the field

T’WISTful Thinking Award Presented by Generac – 6574 Ferradermis | Whitewater WI
Celebrates a team with innovative designs and use of materials to create a successful and creative mechanism.

Tongue TWIST’r Award – 1732 1 Hilltopper Robotics | Milwaukee WI
Recognizes the team best able to describe and convey technical aspects and design decisions about their robot.

TWIST’d Metal Award Presented by Material Control Solutions – 2194 Fondy Fire | Fond du Lac WI
Celebrates the team’s ability to overcome obstacles both on and off the field to achieve a high level of performance.

TWIST It Up! Award Presented by PPG – 4787 Axiom | Chicago IL
Celebrates the cohesive imagery of a team and robot during the event.

TWIST & Shout Award – 6643 1Walnuts and Bolts | Racine WI
This award recognizes the energy and team spirit of fans in the stands. Be loud and proud of your team, robot and drivers. This award will be judged by our field staff.

TWIST Ties Award Presented by Muskego High School – 6421 2 WarriorBots | Muskego WI
Celebrates the team that is the most fun to play with and embodies the values of Gracious Professionalism. This award is selected based on peer nominations.

Volunteer of the Year Award – Bridget and Glen Quast
Acknowledges the phenomenal volunteers that make TWIST possible.

Student Planning Committee Recognition

Keira P
Aidan B
Erica V
Richard Q

Recognizes students for their incredible dedication and enthusiasm for helping plan and make TWIST a success

Student Inspiration Award Presented by CrunchLabs and Milwaukee Tool – Tamia H. from 5125 Hawks on the Horizon | Chicago IL
Each team submits one of their girls that they believe exemplifies the spirit of TWIST and FIRST. This award came with a special prize package of some autographed Mark Rober goodies and a Milwaukee Tool Drill Kit

FINALISTS
1732 Hilltopper Robotics | Milwaukee WI
3061 Huskie Robotics | Naperville IL
6318 Freedom Engineers | Freedom WI

WINNERS
MKE Metal Maidens
2830 Riverside RoboTigers | Milwaukee WI
8802 Milwaukee United | Milwaukee WI
9425 Intra Milwaukee | Milwaukee WI

WEAR (Warrior Engineers of American Robotics, also where is 4786’s Bus?)
6421 WarriorBots | Muskego WI
4786 Nicolet FEAR | Milwaukee WI

93 NEW Apple Corps | Appleton WI

2023 Results

October 14th, 2023 – Lake Denoon Middle School, Muskego WI

Event Photos
Match Results
Video Playlist

Team List:

Partner Teams

Iron Maidens

2830 Riverside RoboTigers | Milwaukee WI
8802 Milwaukee United | Milwaukee WI

MORE Walnuts & Bolts

1714 MORE Robotics | Milwaukee WI
6643 Walnuts and Bolts | Racine WI

AWARD WINNERS:

Plot TWIST Award Presented by MCS – 2704 Roaring Robotics | Naperville IL
Celebrates the team’s ability to overcome obstacles in the previous season to achieve a high level of performance on or off the field.

Tongue TWIST’r Presented by Generac – 2194 Fondy Fire | Fond du Lac WI
Recognizes the team best able to describe and convey technical aspects and design decisions about their robot.

TWIST’d Metal Award Presented by PPG – 2826 Wave Robotics | Oshkosh WI
This award recognizes the team with the robot that keeps going throughout the competition, even when faced with damage or other challenges.

TWIST & Shout Presented by Gallenbergs Groovy Graphics – 6381 Red Raider Robotics | Sheboygan WI
This award recognizes the energy and team spirit of fans in the stands. Be loud and proud of your team, robot and drivers. This award will be judged by our field staff.

TWIST Ties Award – 6574 Ferradermis | Whitewater WI
Celebrates the team that is the most fun to play with and embodies the values of Gracious Professionalism. This award is selected based on peer nominations.

Student Inspiration Award Presented by Milwaukee Tool – Violet from 6381 Red Raider Robotics | Sheboygan WI
Each team can submit one female student that they believe exemplifies the spirit of TWIST and FIRST. A short essay for each applicant will need to be submitted at the event. This award comes with a special prize.

FINALISTS
6421 WarriorBots | Muskego WI
6574 Ferradermis | Whitewater WI
5125 Hawks on the Horizon | Chicago IL

WINNERS
2704 Roaring Robotics | Naperville IL
8701 GRAFFITI | Greendale WI
930 Mukwonago BEARs | Mukwonago WI