This document summarizes the growth of the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) program in South Africa from 2004 to 2012. It notes that the program started with 19 teams in 2004 and grew to include over 130 teams across 6 tournaments by 2011. Key milestones included South African teams winning awards at international competitions in 2006 and 2008. Major corporate sponsors like SAP, Gold Fields, and MTN helped support increasing numbers of teams during this period. The document encourages coaches to emphasize practice, preparation, and ensuring students have fun participating in the program.

1. FIRST LEGO® LEAGUE
Presented by
Johannes de Vries

2. 2004: FLL– Pilot tournament (19 Teams – 180 learners)
2005:All African FLL Championships. South Africa, Nigeria and Jordan total 60
teams
2006: First SA FLL team won a Team Award at the world Festival
2007: TUT Operational Partner (2 tournament 77 teams, SAP sponsor 10 teams
Sci-Bono 8, MTN Science centre first tournament)
2008: FIRST FRC Robot build in SA Combined team won various awards (4
tournaments FLL 90 teams, SAP sponsor 20 teams, Sci-Bono first tournament)
2009: 112 teams (5 UNISA teams, SAP sponsor 44 teams)
2010: First Tournament at UNISA and Nelspruit. Gold Fields as main sponsor (5
tournaments, 122 teams)
2011: FIRST KZN tournament at Gateway Science centre. (6 Tournaments 130
teams. Pilot JFLL with 15 teams.
2012: Official JFLL and Pilot FTC. Expect 6 – 7 tournaments 140 teams

3. Coaches a few pointers:
• Practice makes perfect
• Too much preparation is not enough
•You can never start to early (if we had only 1 more week)
• You should be “GOOGLE”
• HAVE FUN WITH THE KIDS!

8. More Information
 Register your team on the Web.
 www.fllsa.org
 Check other FLL resources
 www.usfirst.org
 www.firstlegoleague.org
“FLL taught me patience and that I could learn more than I ever
thought I could. Oh yeah, and it was fun all at the same time.”
Andre Bauman, FLL Participant