Code of Conduct

The REC Foundation considers the positive, respectful, and ethical conduct of teams to be an essential component of the competition. Participants are expected to behave in a respectful and professional manner, and to operate as student-centered teams with limited adult assistance. This includes all students, teachers, coaches, mentors, parents, and spectators associated with a team.

For more details, please refer to the REC Foundation Code of Conduct and Student-Centered Policy. If you have concerns about compliance with the Code of Conduct, please speak to the Event Partner during the event.

Agenda

VEXU Event 24 Teams 

Saturday 2-14-2026

Doors open 3:00 PM - check-in 

• (digital check-in will be mailed to coaches - teams that check in digitally will not need to stop at the check-in table)

Inspection 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

• Teams that have volunteered for the previous events will be able to complete inspection during either of the events scheduled inspection times. 
  • High School 2-12-2026 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM
  • Middle School 2-13-2026 12:30 PM - 2:30PM
• ​All teams must pass inspection prior to using the practice or skills fields
• Skills & Practice Fields 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM 
• Judging will begin @ 3:30 PM and continue throughout the day

Venue will close by 6:30PM

Sunday 2-15-2026

Doors open 7:30 AM

Opening Ceremony & Drivers Meeting 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Skills & Practice fields open 9:00 AM

• Skills will close after last match scored

Quals 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Lunch 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM

• Skills and Practice will run with a smaller crew to allow for lunch break 
  • Lunch will happen in two shifts 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM & 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
• Judges will eat from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Quals 12:45 PM - 3:00 PM

Alliance Selection 3:15 PM - 3:45 PM

Finals 3:45 PM - 6:00 PM

Awards will start between finals

Awards 6:00 PM - 6:15PM

Venue Will close at 6:30PM

Please leave the pit area as you found it! Clean up after yourself. 

Volunteer

Volunteers are needed to host this signature event. If you are interested in volunteering, please click the sing-up genius image below:

Only Volunteers that have signed up by 01-22-2026 will receive a free volunteer shirt! 

Lunch will be provided for volunteers each day you volunteer!  

Emergency/Bad Weather Policy

In the event of bad weather, updates will be made by email.

Refund and Payment Policies

Hosting events of this size have an added expense that a typical local event does not encounter. For this reason, our refund and payment policy will be strictly enforced. 

Refunds:

If the Event Partner cancels the event: 

Refunds will be issued if event is cancelled by EP. Refunds will NOT include the $10 processing fee collected by Robot Events.

If a Team completes registration for the event then chooses to withdraw or not attend:

As a general rule, refunds will NOT be issued. However, we understand that unforseen circumstances come up. Please contact us as partial refund may be possible if your spot can be filled by another team. 

Payment Policy:

Due to the number of teams that register last season and either held their spots without payment or dropped out last minute allowing little to no time for those spots to be filled, we are enforing a new payment policy for all teams that register. This policy will be strictly enforced. 

Early-bird Registration:

Teams that register during the early-bird registration period (September 29, 2025 - October 12, 2025) will be required to have a PO on file prior to standard registration. Teams that have not updates their account to "PO processing) will be moved to the waiting list. Order must be marked as paid on robotevents within 4 weeks of the registration date. Teams that do not have their payment posted within the 4 week allotted window will be moved to the waiting list (Note: Purchase order on file does not count as a paid in full status). 

Standard Registration: 

All registrations must have a PO on file within 2 weeks of registering for the event. Additionally, registration must be paid in full 2 weeks after the team is registered or immediately if after January 30, 2026, unless other arrangements have been made with EP. Unpaid teams will be moved to the Waitlist two weeks after registration and may be added back in IF there is room on the roster. If your registration payment process takes longer than two week, clear communication will keep teams from being moved to the Waitlist.  

Date: 14-Feb-2026 - 15-Feb-2026

Travel Info

For travel details related to Bristol, Tn. Please visit this link:

https://explorebristol.com/?utm_source=ripl&utm_medium=sem&utm_campaign=2024&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21488824927&gbraid=0AAAAA-A9_mLtTthIIJWW4hoQ3brL9pZEf&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxdXBBhDEARIsAAUkP6gqfkOjGFSStPOmza8rlkBq2OgU59sDN4wouiNIbKuOFHnOr1Cl_2saAj3pEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Webcast

Day One:

https://www.youtube.com/live/d2YkaZ_ncGs?si=AgKMfNUyb1uJXLNu

Judging Format

All In-Person Judging - The Team Interviews and Engineering Notebooks will be judged in-person the day of the event. Teams should bring a physical copy of their notebook to submit to the judges.

Payment

Teams that volunteer for the middle school and high school event as judges/referees/score keepers can contact Margaret Trent [email protected] - to discuss assistance with room expenses.

Hosting events of this size have an added expense that a typical local event does not encounter. For this reason, our refund and payment policy will be strictly enforced. 

Refunds:

If the Event Partner cancels the event: 

Refunds will be issued if event is cancelled by EP. Refunds will NOT include the $10 processing fee collected by Robot Events.

If a Team completes registration for the event then chooses to withdraw or not attend:

As a general rule, refunds will NOT be issued. However, we understand that unforseen circumstances come up. Please contact us as partial refund may be possible if your spot can be filled by another team. 

Payment Policy:

Due to the number of teams that register last season and either held their spots without payment or dropped out last minute allowing little to no time for those spots to be filled, we are enforing a new payment policy for all teams that register. This policy will be strictly enforced. 

Early-bird Registration:

Teams that register during the early-bird registration period (September 29, 2025 - October 12, 2025) will be required to have a PO on file prior to standard registration. Teams that have not updates their account to "PO processing) will be moved to the waiting list. Order must be marked as paid on robotevents within 4 weeks of the registration date. Teams that do not have their payment posted within the 4 week allotted window will be moved to the waiting list (Note: Purchase order on file does not count as a paid in full status). 

Standard Registration: 

All registrations must have a PO on file within 2 weeks of registering for the event. Additionally, registration must be paid in full 2 weeks after the team is registered or immediately if after January 30, 2026, unless other arrangements have been made with EP. Unpaid teams will be moved to the Waitlist two weeks after registration and may be added back in IF there is room on the roster. If your registration payment process takes longer than two week, clear communication will keep teams from being moved to the Waitlist.  

Signature Event Early Bird Policy

• All Signature Events will have a specific Early Bird Registration that is independent of all local/regional Early Bird systems
  • Each team starts the season with three (3) opportunities to register during the Signature Event Early-Bird period
    • An opportunity is taken away each time the team registers for a Signature Event, whether during the Signature Event Early-Bird period or Standard period
    • A Signature Event Early-Bird opportunity is not taken away if a team registers for a tournament hosted by their school or organization (where the team’s coach is the Event Partner)
  • Early Bird Registration will open 16 weeks before the event at 12:00PM EST
    • Note: Modifications to this may be made for events in August and September
  • Standard Registration will open 14 weeks before the event at 12:00PM EST
  • An Event Partner may register their own teams to their Signature Event during Signature Event Early Bird Registration no matter how many other Signature Events they are already registered for  
    • The Event Partner must be the Primary Contact for the teams they are registering