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Kickoff is the event that signifies the start of the yearly [[FIRST Robotics Competition]] season and includes the release of that year's challenge. The game, playing field, robot rules, and [[kit of parts]] items for that year are released at a mix of physical and virtual events. In the early days, kickoff was a single physical event that team representatives would attend to pick up the kit of parts and see the playing field hands-on. As FIRST grew, local kickoff events and internet broadcasts became more common, with animated game explanations and encoded game manuals released as part of the event. After kickoff, teams traditionally have six weeks to develop and build their robots before competition season begins.