Introduction
The Event Meeting allows the Emcee, Event Partner, and/or Head Referee to share important information about the event and the venue. Everyone—including teams, coaches, referees, judges, and parents—should attend the Event Meeting.
This video, produced by RECF in August 2025, is a great way to present a lot of the basic information that should be included in your event meeting. It features volunteers, event partners, and coaches from around the world, and covers the following topics in a 5-minute run time:
- Welcome and thank you
- Rule G1 and the RECF Code of Conduct
- Rule G2 and the RECF Student-Centered Policy
- What to do if you see G1 or G2 violations during the event
- Make time for robot skills matches
- Be available for interviews with judges
- How teams can advocate for themselves after matches
You can use it to kick off your event meeting, and then move into the specific information attendees need about your venue, event, and the current game’s rules. You can also provide this link in pre-event emails to registered teams. If you start your meeting with this video, you can skip some of the information listed below.
General Event Information (typically presented by the EP)
- Welcome and Introduction of key volunteers, including the Event Partner and Head Referee
- Share location of restrooms, concessions, and venue-specific rules and safety information.
- Event emergency and evacuation plan
- Adult team leaders are responsible for student safety and conduct at all times
- Keep the pit area clean and organized for safety and easy repacking after the event
- Teams are responsible for their equipment and materials
- Practice fields – Teams should reset fields after use, share fields so all teams can practice, and limit time
- Skills Challenges – Location(s) of Skills field(s); also, reminder of number of skills runs allowed (3+3) and start/stop times
- For Physical, in-Person Engineering Notebooks – Submit labeled Engineering Notebooks to the check-in table before Match play
- Agenda for the day – Start/stop times, breaks, special activities and their locations
- Judges will recognize student-centered work – Judges will consider compliance with the RECF Student-Centered policy for judged awards
- Lowest scores are dropped – This event includes ___ [insert number] Qualifying Matches for each Team, so the ___ [insert number] lowest score(s) for each team will not count toward the Teamwork rankings [4-7 rounds = 1 low score will not be counted; 8-11 rounds = 2 lowest scores not counted.; 12 or more rounds = 3 lowest scores not counted]. <T9>
- Finals matches – After all Qualifying Matches are complete, the top __ [insert number of teams] will participate in the Finals Matches. <T12>
- Qualifications to the state/regional championship – This event will qualify ___ [insert number of teams] teams to advance to the ___ [insert name] championship event, including these award recipients: ___ [insert qualifying award names].
Rules Reminders for VIQRC Mix & Match (typically presented by the Head Referee)
Rule <G1> and the Code of Conduct
- Please keep the RECF Code of Conduct in mind while competing today. Be respectful, stay professional, follow the rules, and we’ll have a great day. Coaches, if you haven’t reviewed the Code of Conduct with your students, please take a few minutes to do that after this meeting. You can find it on the RECF website (and maybe an onsite banner—point it out if there’s one available).
- If a team or any of its members are disrespectful or uncivil to event staff, volunteers, or fellow competitors, they may be Disqualified from a current Match, upcoming Match, or the entire event depending on the severity of the situation. Judges will also consider team conduct and ethics when determining awards. This applies to anyone associated with the team (participants and spectators). <G1>
- Booing and taunting are aren't allowed at RECF events, and can be considered a G1 violation.
- Individuals, event participants, and event staff who observe disrespectful or uncivil behavior should report it to the Event Partner immediately, along with any photo or video evidence.
- Only the Drive Team Members may contest a referee’s ruling - Adults are not permitted to intervene. <T3>
- Event attendees are not allowed to record audio or video of Teams’ discussions with Head Referees or other event staff/volunteers.
VEX IQ is a Student-Centered Program
- VIQRC is a student-centered program. Adults should not make decisions about the Robot’s
build, design, or gameplay, and should not provide an unfair advantage by providing ‘help’ that is beyond the Students’ independent abilities. <G2> - Adults can cheer for teams, help them queue on time, and help them find resources. Adults should never work on the robot or code, and shouldn't guide match strategy.
- The robot design, construction, and programming must represent the skill level of the team. <G4>
Before the Match
- Get to the queuing table on time, with a robot that's ready to play. If your robot isn't ready to play, having it in the driver station will still get you points from the match. <GG2><GG3>
- Make sure your robot is in a legal starting position and configuration, and get it and the preload set up quickly without stepping onto the field. <SG1><SG5>
During the Match
- Be sure to switch drivers during the 10-second driver switch period; if only one driver from a team is at a match, that driver can only drive for the first 35 seconds of the match. <GG11>
- If your robot needs to be fixed, put your controller on the ground before moving to grab the robot. Any pins or beams being controlled by the robot should be handed to the correct human loaders, and when the robot has been repaired it should be returned to the field in a legal starting position (touching your team's triangle goal, etc.). <GG10>
- Your robot can never expand horizontally beyond 11"x20", but can get as tall as you like after the match starts. <SG2><SG3>
- Wait for the timer to start before you start, and stop driving when the timer hits zero. <GG12>
- Remember--any scoring that happens after the timer hits zero isn't counted, and violations will turn into DQs after three minor violations! <GG12>
After the Match
- Check the score before you leave the Drivers' Station. <T1><T3>
- The referees will only talk to the drive team members about matches and can’t look at videos of the match. Period. <T3>
Skills Matches
- Each team gets up to three driving skills matches and three autonomous coding skills matches; be sure you're making time for those!
- Most of the regular rules still apply in Skills matches, but your team has to use the red Driver Station and all objects are loaded from the red Load Zone. <RSC1><RSC3><RSC4>
- In an autonomous coding skills match, a team can reset their robot as many times as they want and return it to Starting Zone 2; any objects being controlled by the robot are handed to the human loaders. You can't step into the field to reset the robot. <RSC5>
- In a driving skills match, drive team members must stay in the red drivers station; in an autonomous coding skills match, drive team members can move around the field as needed. <RSC4><RSC5>
Share Feedback, and Have Fun!
- Direct questions, concerns, or positive feedback to the Event Partner.
Enjoy your VEX IQ Robotics Competition experience! Thank you for your support!