Does anyone know if there is going to be any competitions near S.E Iowa. The closest one I have found is about 5 Hours away.
If not, How do you host a competition?
Thanks,
Newbie.
I can give you a bit of info on hosting a competition.
You’re going to want at least two fields side by side, with full field control. Most schools use their gymnasium for this. Generally, even a small competition has at least 25 teams. You would pick whatever number you have room for on the Robot Events website, set a cost, and teams that were interested would pay the registration fee. That would hopefully offset some of the costs of buying the fields and trophies.
You also need to have the volunteers to do this. That generally means at least three or four referees, two or three people doing inspection/judging interviews, and a couple guys managing the tournament software. These people would be unable to really participate on a team during the competition. Additionally, there would be some training required for all of these volunteers before the competition even starts.
I’m not trying to discourage you by any means. But it is a lot of work, and I personally wouldn’t recommend a first-year team host a competition. If you really think you want to, definately go to one before making the decision and see how they are run. We’re thinking about it this year, but we would need to raise the funds to do so.
Thanks for the info. I would really like to just attend a competition but was hoping I could find one closer to us.
Thanks for the info.
It’s sometimes fun to drive to one out of your region, even. We’re going to be in Chula Vista, California for their large tournament to the end of November. It’s great to take a weekend and go out of town for a while with friends. That’s really how to get a team to bond, through copious amounts of food and fun.
Sorry there aren’t any close to you. Do you know what region you’re in? There might not be very many teams in the area, making hosting a competition even more difficult.
I am not sure what region I would be in.
Check with the RECF, they may be able to help you right down to loaning a field. They can also tell you who your regional contact person is.
Hi Brooks88,
I am a coach of an Iowa team from Council Bluffs, Iowa, which is in Western Iowa and prob. a good 4/5 hours away. We will be hosting an event here in Feb., I know Geneso, IL will be having an event which is just across the boarder into IL by Davenport. We went to that one a couple of years ago and it was a 5 hr drive for us, all interstate so it wasn’t too bad. Kansas City has a tournament every year as well, it is just not posted yet. I do not know what date that will be as of yet. I have been in contact with our area rep for RECF and we are looking to get a tournament (State Championship) in Central Iowa with qualifications requirements still to be determined, but will work to make sure all Iowa teams have a chance. As of now, the State Championship is slated to be in Council Bluffs because we are the only ep working on it and do not have access to facilities anywhere else right now. I also know that someone is investigating a tournament in Centerville, Iowa which would be real close to you I assume. If they proceed, my team with parents and other experienced volunteers would be willing to come and help run it. I can let them know you are interested, what city/town in Iowa are you from, I will relay to them that you are interested in coming, if you are in fact interested and you could make it. They are looking at dates in January. You can check out tournaments as they come up on robotevents.com and look for them by regions. You can send me an email via the information posted at our event, which is the Western Iowa Pwnament on Feb. 15th. We have had good feedback on our tournament and you are more than welcome to come, we would be happy to help set you up and make sure things go well for you if you want to make it over to here. I hope this helps.