The SPARKS 4-H Club and many experienced volunteers in the Mid-Atlantic Region are proud to announce the Mid-Atlantic VEX Championship, to be held in Westminster, MD on February 26 and 27, 2010. The event is being hosted by the SPARKS 4-H Club, a robotics specialty club in Carroll County, MD. We have pulled together a large group of experienced volunteers to plan and execute this event. For the few teams that attended the Atlantic Coast Championship last year, this Mid-Atlantic VEX Championship is a different event with a different, much more experienced planning committee.
The Shipley Arena (http://www.carrollcountyagcenter.com/shipley/index.asp) will easily house pit areas for 150 teams, with space for spectator seating and 8 competition fields to support up to four divisions. We can also fit in enough practice and skills challenge fields. Access into the facility is very easy and there is ample free parking. For teams who will need to spend a night, we will be posting hotel information relatively soon. Westminster is located approximately 50 minutes from downtown Baltimore (non-rush hour) and an hour from BWI Airport. (One item to note, the listing in Robot Events has a map that shows a location in downtown Baltimore. That is incorrect and I do not have access to fix it.)
For Mid-Atlantic Region teams that may not be able to go to Dallas, this is an excellent opportunity to attend a large championship event. But be careful, if you do well, top teams from this event will receive an invitation to the World Championship in Dallas. We hope to have enough middle school teams sign up to create a separate middle school division.
Watch this thread and the Robot Events listing for more information.
As far as schedule, this event will feature two full days of competition starting on Friday February 26, and continuing through Saturday February 27. We will most likely also open the facility Thursday evening (4 to 8 PM) for teams who would like to get through inspection early.
Depending on registration levels, we will operate two High School divisions and one Middle School division. With 96+ teams registered we will be able to qualify up to 18 teams for the World Championship in Dallas. If we exceed 144 registered teams, the number of teams we may qualify increases to 21!](www.midatlanticvex.org)
The website for the Mid-Atlantic VEX Championship (www.midatlanticvex.org) has been updated with new information on hotels, schedule, and awards. Also please note that it is best to register before January 1, 2010 so that you can take advantage of the low, $50 registration fee.
Thank you to the CCBC TIME Center and Northrop Grumman for sponsoring this event!
Please note when registering teams that we have now split the registration listing in Robot Events. Teams made up of only middle school students should register under the middle school listing, and teams with high school aged students should register under the high school listing. If your team is a mix of middle school and high school students, you must register and compete in the high school divisions.
The registration pace is picking up, so be sure to register relatively soon if you plan to attend! Also, be sure to take advantage of the $50 registration fee by registering before Jan 1, 2010. The fee increases to $100 as of Jan 1, 2010.
Please be aware that your team does not need to qualify to participate in the Mid-Atlantic VEX Championship. After discussions with a few teams, it appears some teams believe qualification at another event is required. Any team wishing to participate may complete their paid registration and attend.
Also, please be aware that the registration cost increases from $50 to $100 on January 1, so please complete your paid registration before Jan 1 if you plan to attend. Due to the amount of planning required for this large event and the need to commit to quantities for some items that must be ordered, we may limit registration numbers for additional teams registering after Jan 1. So registration as soon as possible will benefit your team and help the planning committee finalize event arrangements.
At the request of middle school team contacts who have expressed an interest in the event, we are now going to limit the middle school division to competition on Saturday only. If a middle school team prefers a two day event, they will need to make a choice between competing in the one day middle school competition, or compete in the two day high school division. Where possible, we suggest middle schools come Friday afternoon/evening to complete the inspection process.
Finally, we are still seeking event volunteers. If your team plans to attend, please consider asking one or more of your adults to help run the event. The details can be found on the event website: www.midatlanticvex.org.
This is a reminder to teams that there is just over two weeks to complete paid registration for the Mid Atlantic VEX Championship before the registration fee increases on January 1. Schools will be taking time off for the holidays, so plan to complete your registration before the holiday break! If you wait until January 1, the registration fee for this two day event will increase from $50 to $100.
Also, at this point the interest in the Middle School division seems to be very low. If middle school registrations do not increase, the organizing committee will likely drop the middle division from the event relatively soon.
This is a reminder that there are two weeks left to register of the VEX Mid-Atlantic Championship, February 26 and 27. We have 70 teams registered, coming from as far north as Massachusetts and as far south as North Carolina. Registration closes February 1st!
How many mentors could bring a Clean Sweep mentor-built robot to the MAC if we start building them now (assuming that you don’t have one built already)?
4? 8? 16?
Put me down for one (If I give up the luxury of sleeping for a couple of weeks :))
I’d like to take this oportunity to remind teams of the impending cutoff date for registration while I answer Jon’s question.
Registration for the VEX Robotics Mid-Atlantic Championship closes next Monday, February 1st! If you plan to attend and have not registered, please register soon! Due to event size and logistics we need to finalize team numbers relatively soon.
To answer Jon’s question- I would like to wait until after registration closes on Feb 1st to release the team list so we do not have multiple versions out there. I can say, now, that we have teams coming from as far away as North Carolina and Mass.
I reposting this because I absolutely know that Jon_T isn’t the only mentor who will attend the MAC.
Out of over 70 teams I’m hoping to get at least a few nibbles on the lure I dangled in the water in post #8 below. Anyone else out there tired of getting a luxurious 6-7 hours of sleep per night?
[INDENT]How many mentors could bring a Clean Sweep mentor-built robot to the MAC if we start building them now (assuming that you don’t have one built already)?
4? 8? 16?
Put me down for one (If I give up the luxury of sleeping for a couple of weeks )
Well, if a handful show up, we might challenge a few students to a (after hours? lunchtime?) throw-down (takes about 5 minutes on a practice field) or some other off-the-books fun.
However, if other folks don’t need to scratch this itch, then nothing will happen.
There are two parts to robot building. Building the robot and driving the robot. Part one, building, I can do. Driving is another story. If the DMV saw the way I drive robots, I’d be walking to the MAC.
So I’d love to build a robot, but I need to bring in a ringer driver to make it fly.
I definitely won’t be there, but I had to laugh at the driving comments. I’m pretty sure I could build a world-class robot, but I am the *worst *robot driver in the northern hemisphere. You should hear my kids laughing at me when I try to drive their robots (the little ingrates). I have enough opportunities for embarrassment in my life already without driving a VEX robot in public.
This is a quick reminder that registration closes Monday Feb 1, @ 11:59 PM. All you procrastinators who are thinking about attending better sign up very soon!
Attached are the registered teams for the VEX Mid-Atlantic Championship, accurate as of February 3rd. Of the teams listed, approximately 18 are participating in the Saturday-only Middle School Division (not indentified on list). In addition, the list may change slightly as there are still some registration issues to work out with a few teams. As you can see on the attached list, we have a wide geographic area covered by registered teams!
I just posted a link to the VMAC online scouting system in this thread. The team list (subject to change) is already posted for the high school division. If more teams sent in robot photos to [email protected] then more pictures would be available too :).
