We sent this same letter to the countries directly impacted two days earlier so that they would hear the news first from us and not on any forums or social media.
I do want to recognize that this is a very dynamic situation and things are changing rapidly.
I want to highlight a one specific point from the update:
“If there are restrictions that will not allow the 2020 VEX Robotics World Championship to take place, registered teams will receive a full refund on their registration fee.” - This has been asked a lot on all the forums so I trust everyone will be relieved.
Feel free to post questions and I will answer as best as I can later in the day.
The statement states that if Worlds is cancelled, teams will receive a refund.
My district is currently considering cancelling all out of state travel. If a school district cancels travel, but Worlds is not cancelled, will we be able to receive a refund?
I would highly doubt that because a lot of the registration cost gets used up as a part of the event itself. The money isn’t all going to RECF or VEX. So either they would have to cancel everything and refund the whole event or no one at all. Just my thoughts.
My question is, what will happen to teams that qualify but will be unable to attend, if, for example, the championship is cancelled? Will spots be allocated to those teams next year?
I would assume if the event is cancelled spots are void. It kinda sucks but otherwise you would already have enough teams qualified to make worlds run next year which would either mean worlds spots next year are reduced drastically or they somehow have to run a double sized worlds.
Thank you for sharing this update Mr. Mantz. I have a question regarding the teams who have qualified but are unable to attend, who are not from the countries listed in the announcement. Will these spots also be reallocated? (If so, then it would seem fair to refund those teams’ registration fees, as it would be a net zero for the RECF). Given that authorities including school boards and universities seem to be announcing new travel restrictions for their students every day, and many qualified teams have been affected by this already, I think it would be necessary to reallocate these spots to have a remotely full Worlds event.
That doesn’t answer the question. The question was if a team is prevented from going by their own authorities, not if worlds ends up being cancelled.
What kind of events would need to unfold for Worlds to be canceled all together? There has to be a certain points in which the CDC or Louisville Tourism Department have informed RECF that could forcefully cancel the world championship. I understand if you can not provide us this information but it is worth asking for all the nervous teams out there.
I asked a similar question and this is the response I received via email:
" If local, state, and government officials implement restrictions that would not allow the 2020 VEX Robotics World Championship to take place as planned, registered teams will receive a full refund of their registration fee.
If you team can not attend due to district restrictions or other circumstances, the normal refund policy will apply."
So it looks like teams will get a refund if Worlds is cancelled, not if your district decides you can’t go.