Will the 4 regions persist where there are 5 state champ events or will texas end up merged into 1 region?
1 Like
For BEST there is a small school and large school division. BEST teams that are multi-school, not-public, or not in Texas (some teams from neighboring states are included in Texas BEST) there is a separate division
For FTC there are small school and large school divisions, but not sure how that works for not-public schools.
For FRC it is just the eligible teams from the FIT district championship are awarded as state champions. That means a team that takes students from multiple schools like 118 could seed #1, win the tournament, and not be recognized as state champions, but alliance with two other robots that are named the state champs.
With the four regions in VRC, not sure how that is going to exactly work. The four regions just make sense for Texas, like other states that are split or other combined regions. That said, this looks like it will always be a separate event due to how it doesnât really work with how VEX qualifications work. Not sure when or where future events will take place. Will be a bigger event with the official sanctioning, but how it fits in the season is yet to be decided. Currently it exists as a open sign up like a signature event. It has been said that it will have a qualification criteria and possibly a points list for the future. The next two years are a pilot, so it will be changed each season as they work to get it right. I imagine it will possibly work like FRC with certain awards from events automatically qualifying and other spots filled with the top skills state wide or points from awards or seeding similar to the FRC district model. I am out of the loop on that discussion, so anything above is just my mere speculation based on the limited things I have heard from trusted sources.
6 Likes
I donât understand the waitlist, do teams on the waitlist make it if a team declines the invitation thing to worlds? Itâs my first yearâŚ
A team on the waitlist is a team that didnât qualify for worlds, but can still get invited if there are open spots.
1 Like
Iâm glad for Kentucky teams that this is back to being a Worlds qualifier, but I am a little annoyed too.
We had the PA-west championship during that same weather event. The EP tried to reschedule it and was not permitted to move it later than 3/13 (which was a Sunday) They surveyed the teams and kept it on Saturday. Some teams cancelled, others arrived about 90minutes past the scheduled start time. Our school cancelled our transportation through them and parents had to arrange their own transportation at the last minute. Overall, we made the best of it and shortened the event down to 5 qualifying rounds. We lost about 20% of the registered teams to the weather.
9 Likes
The REC Foundation started sending invites from the Wait List yesterday.
We have been closely working with our international teams since the beginning of the year. Some countries told us early in the year that they could not attend in person VEX Worlds and we allocated those spots to other regions. There are a few countries that we held spots for that may not attend. We will fill these spots from the wait list. Except for VEX IQ ES, it looks like all spots will be filled.
As explained in some other responses, KY notified us that they had to delay the event because of bad weather. The REC Foundation typically has a strict qualifying deadline but KY was able to confirm immediately that they would be able to have the event the following weekend. So I approved the extension. We really do try to be flexible where we can. A lot of times events are postponed and can not be rescheduled until weeks after the deadline. In those cases, we qualify teams from the Skills list.
As noted in other responses, these events were for the VEX Robotics Texas UIL State Championship. The four RECF Texas VEX Robotics regional championships that qualified dozens of teams to VEX Worlds happened before the deadline.
15 Likes
For those of you that donât know Mr. @Jobe, he has done an amazing job supporting both the traditional VEX Robotics competitions as well as our UIL state championship events. Plus he ran the first VAIC event and also runs Drones competitions. He is an amazing coach and EP. And he also helps train coaches and EPs from all over Texas and Louisiana. Heâs also gives the RECF âthoughtfulâ ideas of how to improve⌠I think both he and @Foster conspire to keep me honestâŚ
James explained the UIL format that the other programs are following. The REC Foundation will continue to have VEX Robotics regional championships in Texas that follow our standard qualifying criteria model. But for UIL State Championship, we will continue to have a separate event. Our goal is to have enough VEX Robotics teams in Texas for each UIL Classification (Class 1 is the smallest / Class 6 is the largest) that we host 6 separate UIL competitions and one Texas non public school competition. This yearâs event had a Class 1-4, Class 5 and Class 6 and non public school competition.
24 Likes
Will being in the Open Division for Vex IQ MS or ES affect a teamâs chances of getting invited from the waitlist into the qualifying divisions?