Section 1: Qualifying Event |
| QC1A | Must follow rules and guidelines outlined in RECF governing documents |
| QC1B | Open, school-based, conference, invitational tournament, or a league |
| QC1C | Visible for at least one week prior to opening for registration |
| QC1D | Teams must be registered and paid on RECFEvents.org for the current season |
| QC1E | Minimum of 16 teams for RECF ADC and 8 teams for RECF ADC Pro competitions |
| QC1F | No one organization may have more than 33% of the registered team |
| QC1G | Must have a certified head referee and a certified judge advisor |
| QC1H | May utilize a waitlist |
| QC1I | RSM may enable or disable early bird registration |
| QC1J | Results uploaded and finalized to RECFEvents.org within 48 hours of completion |
| QC1K | Specific payment policies and procedures |
| QC1L | Must offer a maximum of three (3) solo piloting and three (3) solo autonomous flight attempts to each team |
| QC1M | Minimum number of matches per team for regular and championship events |
| QC1N | Reliable and adequate wi-fi required for at-event coding of drones |
| QC1O | Some awards are required for events with judging |
| QC1P | All teams must be given the opportunity to be interviewed at events with judging |
| QC1Q | A competition notebook and judged interview is required to win any judged award |
| QC1R | If no team at an event meets an award's criteria, that award should not be given out |
| QC1S | Qualifying events for the current season may begin after October 1, 2026 |
| QC1T | The deadline to host a qualifying event is three (3) weeks before an event region championship |
| QC1U | Deadline dates for posting qualifying events on RECFEvents.org, and be open for registration at least eight (8) weeks in advance of the event |
| QC1V | The RECF RSM will ultimately determine the allocation each qualifying event is assigned within an event region |
| QC1W | If a team double qualifies, the spot will be awarded to the team of the same grade level with the next highest solo mission score who did not win a qualifying award at that event |
| QC1X | Teams from outside the event region are eligible to receive any performance-based or judged awards offered at the event |
Section 2: Open Tournament |
| QC2A | Open to any registered team, has alliance and elimination/finals matches, and may or may not include judging |
Section 3: School-Based Tournament |
| QC3A | Only school based organizations (public / private / charter) as indicated in RECFEvents.org can register for these events |
| QC3B | May or may not include judging |
| QC3C | No requirement to host an open tournament before hosting a school-based tournament |
| QC3D | Be held within the same season as an open tournament with organizational or team percentage registration restrictions |
| QC3E | Be in the same program and age group |
| QC3F | No one organization may have more than 33% of the registered teams |
Section 4: Invitational Tournament |
| QC4A | Each event partner is permitted to host exactly one invitational tournament after they host another open tournament of equal or greater size that follows all registration restrictions |
| QC4B | Be held within the same season as an open tournament |
| QC4C | Be in the same program and age group |
| QC4D | Must have alliance matches |
| QC4E | Are not bound to the 33% organization requirement |
Section 5: JROTC Invitational Event |
| QC5A | Must only have JROTC-affiliated teams competing in order to qualify for the JROTC All-Service National Championship |
| QC5B | May also qualify teams to an event region championship |
| QC5C | Process for invitation to JROTC All-Service National Championship |
Section 6: ADC Pro |
| QC6A | No designated event regions and all ADC Pro teams will be considered one event region |
| QC6B | Event region championship is understood to be the respective ADC Pro season championship |
| QC6C | Qualifying event posting deadlines |
| QC6D | ADC Pro tournaments cannot be invitational or solo mission only |
| QC6E | The minimum qualifying event size is 8 teams for ADC Pro events |
| QC6F | Events must be approved by the RECF RSM responsible for the location in which the event is being held |
| QC6G | Some awards are required for events with judging |
| QC6H | ADC Pro teams may qualify to their respective season championship from any qualifying event they are eligible to attend |
| QC6I | Season championships can be blended high school / college |
| QC6J | ADC Pro season championship events will follow specific dates and deadlines |
Section 7: League |
| QC7A | May or may not have judging |
| QC7B | Can be invitational |
| QC7C | Cannot be solo mission only events |
| QC7D | Each ranking session may offer teams the opportunity to complete three (3) piloting and three (3) coding solo match attempts |
| QC7E | Are not bound to the 33% organization requirement |
| QC7F | Must have a minimum of one week between ranking sessions |
| QC7G | A single ranking session may be split over multiple days within the week, but will still be considered one (1) ranking session |
| QC7H | Ranking sessions may have fewer than 16 teams participating |
Section 8: Solo Missions Only Event |
| QC8A | Listed as open, school-based, or conference tournaments and must have “Only” in the name of the event. Solo mission only events are not available in ADC Pro |
| QC8B | An RECF RSM will ultimately decide if a solo missions only event is approved or becomes a qualifying event |
| QC8C | Must be held in-person |
| QC8D | Cannot be run as leagues or invitational tournaments |
| QC8E | Live remote solo missions (LRS) events are permitted only by special arrangement with the RSM |
| QC8F | No one organization may have more than 33% of the registered teams |
| QC8G | The deadline to host a solo missions only event where results upload to the world standings is March 31, 2027 |
Section 9: Scrimmage |
| QC9A | Do not qualify for a higher level event and do not upload results to RECFEvents.org |
| QC9B | Events that do not meet the criteria for a qualifying event will be considered a scrimmage |
Section 10: Workshop |
| QC10A | Can not qualify for a higher level event and do not upload results to RECFEvents.org |
| QC10B | Workshops over $500 require additional RECF approval |
Section 11: Conference |
| QC11A | A conference will be considered a separate event region |
| QC11B | A conference team can only compete in conference events, RECF Signature Events, and the RECF World Championship |
| QC11C | Participation in a conference tournament is limited to teams from the hosting conference |
| QC11D | Conferences may run an unlimited number of conference tournaments |
| QC11E | Leagues within a conference can qualify for a conference championship |
| QC11F | Conferences must complete an application to be considered and approved as a conference |
| QC11G | Conference qualification structure, rules, and/or bylaws must be approved by the RECF |
| QC11H | Conferences are open to RECF high school, middle school, and elementary school teams |
| QC11I | An approved conference may include teams from multiple event regions |
| QC11J | A team may only belong to one conference |
| QC11K | All teams from an organization must belong to the same conference, or no conference |
| QC11L | A conference may add new teams/organizations with approval from a conference advisory board |
| QC11M | Removing a team or organization from a conference must be approved by the RECF and the conference advisory board |
Section 12: Signature Event |
| QC12A | Spot allocations to the RECF World Championship are independent from any event region |
| QC12B | Is awarded a minimum of five spots to the RECF World Championship if specific requirements are met |
| QC12C | Double qualifications are filled from the combined solo match rankings at that event |
| QC12D | Requirements are season-specific |
Section 13: Event Region Championship |
| QC13A | An RECF RSM will determine if an event qualifies and its spot allocation |
| QC13B | A team is permitted to register for only one event region championship in their event region |
| QC13C | A team must have posted a solo mission score -OR- have competed in a qualifying event in the current season to be eligible for an event region championship |
| QC13D | No team minimum, RSM and EP determine capacity |
| QC13E | Must hand out a 2nd Judges Award if at least 16 teams compete |
| QC13F | Must follow the spot hierarchy in the spot allocation charts |
| QC13G | Must offer judged awards and give all teams the opportunity to be interviewed |
| QC13H | Must offer solo missions matches to all teams |
| QC13I | Must be single grade level only unless special exception granted by the RSM |
| QC13J | Can qualify by winning a qualifying award, solo match rankings, or the waitlist |
| QC13K | Invitations to the 2027 RECF World Championship will be issued from season events |
| QC13L | Will follow specific dates and deadlines |
| QC13M | Should strive to be a multi-day event |
Section 14: RECF World Championship |
| QC14A | Invitations will be issued from ADC and ADC Pro events throughout the 2026-2027 season |
| QC14B | A regional championship qualification structure may be in place to qualify teams to future RECF world championships |