2023 VEX Coach Bootcamps

WHAT

In this multi-day residential bootcamp, sponsored by Fairmont State University, the West Virginia Robotics Alliance, and the REC Foundation, educators will learn everything they need to know to coach a VEX Robotics Competition or VEX IQ Competition team in their school or community.

Participants will receive instruction from educational robotics experts from the NASA IV&V Education Resource Center, including mechanical design, robot programming, competition rules & structure, engineering documentation, and season planning.

No previous experience in robotics or coaching is required!

WHO

Anyone interested in coaching a new VRC or VIQC team (in West Virginia or elsewhere) may attend.

Teachers from eligible West Virginia schools who participate will additionally recieve a free robot kit for use by their new team (subject to certain conditions – see below)

WHEN

VEX Robotics Competition (Middle & High School) – July 17-19, 2023 (CANCELLED)

VEX IQ Competition (Elementary & Middle School) – July 20-21, 2023

WHERE

The bootcamp will be held on the campus of Fairmont State University in Fairmont, WV. Participants will be provided with on-campus accomodations and meals.

COST

The cost for each session of the camp is:

This cost is inclusive of lodging, meals, instruction, and use of equipment for the camp.

ABOUT VRC & VIQC

The VEX Robotics Competition & VEX IQ Competition, presented by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation, are two of the world’s largest robotics competitions, with over 20,000 registered teams in the 2021-22 season.

In both VRC and VIQC, teams of students design, build, program, and document robots to play the current season’s robot game. At tournaments, teams will collaborate with and compete against other teams to score as many points as possible, compete in the skills challenge to score as many points as possible on their own, and participate in interviews with STEM professionals to judge the quality of their documentation and engineering process.

Teams compete in local qualifying events, from which they can advance to state/regional championships. The West Virginia state championships are run annually at Fairmont State University. A select number of teams from these events are then invited to represent their region at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, TX!

VRC teams from WV high schools also have the opportunity to participate in WVSSAC Robotics as a co-curricular activity officially sanctioned by the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission. WVSSAC Robotics teams play a version of the current VRC game with some modifications to the eligibility rules and tournament structure. The WVSSAC Roboicts season comprises after-school and weekend Meets held throughout the fall, winter, and spring, culminating in the WVSSAC Robotics State Championship in April, where a single high school will earn the title of WVSSAC State Champion.

For more information about VRC and VIQC, consult the REC Foundation website:

REGISTER

To register for the bootcamp, click below. For more information or questions, contact us via email.

EQUIPMENT GRANTS

Participants who receive equipment grants must meet the following requirements:

For more information about our Robotics Expansion Program equipment grants, visit this page.