Hi. We are having our first VEX competition in school this year using Squared away. I would like to change competitions every year. Do schools trade challenges? For example we have 10 squared away sets and would be looking for 10 Ringmaster. Thanks.
Welcome to the forums! Usually schools get the newest game that vex (or whatever organization(s) is/are responsible for the games are) to compete with other schools with the same set/field. Squared away is a game from about two years ago, and Ringmaster is from about 4 years ago. You can definitely use the fields to have a competition within your school, but competing with other schools is not an option. I might have misinterpreted your question. In case I did, you can maybe trade with other schools. That really just depends on the schools you contact. In some cases, they might just give you the sets because they aren’t using them.
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Welcome to VEX and the forums!
The people who make VEX games create a completely new one every year. If you host a Squared Away competition, you will not get many competitors, because that game was created about three years ago, and the vast majority of VEX competitors don’t play it any more. The current VEX game is Slapshot. The Slapshot season is just beginning, and most teams haven’t started building yet, so if you’re looking to start a team, it’s definitely not too late. If you want to host a Slapshot competition, you’ll probably want to wait until September, at the earliest, and you can continue hosting until about January.
That said, if you just want to make a summer camp with a competition, using Squared Away is just fine, since many participants won’t have played that game. You could talk to local schools, and those that have Squared Away fields might be willing to lend them to you, since Squared Away is such an old game.
If I understand correctly, you have 10 Squared Away fields and next year, you plan to host Ringmaster competitions and want to trade your Squared Away fields for Ringmaster fields. I think I and @ezl have explained well enough that old games are not very widely played. In any given year, the vast majority of players play the current year’s game. If you do want to host a Squared Away competition, though, of course you’re welcome to do so.
By the way, here is the Slapshot official game manual.
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Yes. We have squared away that we purchased two years ago, but the competition is next week. It is a district competition so each school gets one full field and challenge. For next year we need a different challenge that works on the 4X8 field. I have one ringmaster and was hoping another school might be in the same situation. I am not sure we will have the funds to buy 10 of the new challenge along with the field expansion.
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I forgot to mention that last years’ games are probably available much cheaper from VEX than current years’ games. (But they might not be listed on the site.) If you only have 10 4x8 fields, you could turn them into 6 6x8 fields, and if you got a few more tiles, 7 fields. Not as many fields, but VEX IQ fields are made from the same types of pieces every year, so you might be able to make seven field element sets next year (depending on the field elements) without buying seven sets.
However, if you want to have your Squared Away and Ringmaster competitions, go ahead. Just be prepared if not many people come. I don’t want to disappoint you, but old VEX games aren’t really played. You could still have a summer camp or something, though.
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Good luck on your competitions, it sounds like you have a captive district wide audience and can be sure that you will have several schools playing the district game.
As far as finding 10 complete ringmaster games, that will be difficult, typically at the end of the season, many teams breakdown the fields and sort the old field elements in to their overall stockpile. Your best bet to purchase old games cheaply is to get on here each May and obtain the outgoing current game (i.e. you could likely get 10 Pitching In sets relatively easily and inexpensively) right now, but wait 3-6 months and those kits will be scattered to the wind.
We have a lot of Rise Above pieces, but that game, like Pitching In, are played on the bigger field.
Good luck on the journey and hopefully you will be able to upgrade those fields soon and play the current game in your district.
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You could still buy next level from VEX.
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