TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

The graph for the team challenge will go right here once it’s created!

Welcome to the site of the 2026 Team Championship!

What is the Team Championship? A way to up our productivity through friendly competition! By joining your team’s Challenge, your progress becomes viewable to your team, and your progress will be counted toward your team’s average progress. Take the sorting quiz HERE and await assignment to one of our three teams!

Drafters that participate in the team challenge, on average, perform better than those who don’t. The spirit of gentle challenge helps push you, as every bit of work you do (measured by percentage of your goal) helps your team!

Want all the fun of sending gifs and the gentlest, kindest of chirps to your fellow drafters without feeling the pressure to perform? No worries, you can join a team For The Vibes! You’ll be on a team, but your progress won’t be counted as part of the team’s overall numbers. No worries, all fun!

This year’s theme is Trash to Treasures, a celebration of sustainability.

Most people are already well aware of the three Rs — Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But did you know that there are three more Rs that are a part of sustainability?

That’s right, there’s actually SIX tenants of sustainability, not just the most famous three. And their order matters, too; they go from most to least effective.

Rethink means considering whether you really need to buy a new item, or if second-hand is good enough. It’s also about considering which product to go with, based on longevity, packaging, and price. 

Reduce is one we all know: reduce the amount of waste that is created. Buy products with less or no packaging, or with compostable or recyclable packaging.

Reuse is another of the heavy-hitters. Using cloths instead of paper towels, refilling the soap instead of buying a new bottle, all the little things that add up.

Repair means fixing things instead of replacing them. Mending the hole in your jeans, reattaching the sole of your boots (or having a cobbler do it), nailing the leg back on your chair. 

Repurpose is for the things that just can’t be repaired back to their original use. That shirt that’s too shredded to patch, but would make a great handful of washcloths. The pot that’s flaking teflon into your pasta but would look great as a plant pot. A new life for an old item!

Recycle is the classic, the best-known star of the show. Make use of the recycling programs in your area! Toss paper, plastic, glass, and metal into your blue box (or boxes) and keep them out of the landfills.

So what does that mean for First Draft Frenzy? Well, for those of us who are thinking outside the word processor this month, it can mean using up stashes we already have: use the box of yarn or thread that’s been sitting there waiting for a project, make a scraps skirt or quilt, repurpose that wrapping paper or magazine in your art project. Join the lovely Gretchen in a craft supply swap! She’ll have a box of art supplies that you can add to or take from when you find the perfect thing that your project has been begging for!

For the writers, it can mean reusing that description that didn’t fit in last year’s project but is too good to resist. Repair that transition that was a little too clunky by turning it into a scene of its own. Repurpose that Dungeons and Dragons character you made when you were twelve and make her the star of your noir detective story!

Our teams this year are the delightful trash goblins of the urban nightlife, the softest critters you should never pet, the roundest babies ever to grace our First Draft Detroit merch:

Team Skunk, headed by Beth and Lizzie! 

Team Raccoon, headed by Chesnaye, Deirdre, and Erin!

Team Possum, headed by Erika, Gretchen, and Owen!

Once you’ve taken the quiz and gotten your team assignment, join your specific team challenge on Pacemaker so your progress can be counted! The links above will send you to the right page, and you can add your pacemaker project to the pack! 

The discord also has team-specific channels! Chat with your fellow teammates, share gifs, and gently smacktalk the other teams in the all-team channel!