General Info
General Info
Thank you for your interest in the SEMS Spooktacular High School Tournament hosted at Sullivan East Middle School of Bluff City, TN.! This tournament gives teams the opportunity to get an early look at the competition, participate in live play, engage with judges, and get a true feeling for what the season will look like. Teams participating in early season events have the advantage of understanding how their robot design performs during actual match play. This advantage allows them additional time to revisit design ideas, make changes, upgrades, or hone driving and programming skills.
Please see event flier for Volunteer Sign-ups, lunch order options, and links to the live stream using this link!
- Venue
- 4500 Weaver Pike
- Address
- 4500 Weaver Pike, Bluff City, Tennessee 37618, United States
- Dates
- October 24, 2026
- Grade Level
- High School
- Skills Challenge
- Yes
- Judging Format
- All In-Person Judging
Registration & Logistics
- Event Type
- Open Tournament
- Event Format
- In-Person
- Field Control
- Smart Field Control
- Capacity
- 32
- Spots Open
- 23
- Event Region
- Tennessee
- Priority Registration Opens
- 24-Aug-2026 12:00 EDT
- Standard Registration Opens
- 7-Sep-2026 12:00 EDT
- Registration Deadline
- 16-Oct-2026 12:00 EDT
- Payment Deadline
- 17-Oct-2025 18:01 EDT
- Price
- $90.00
Agenda
Agenda
Please keep in mind this schedule is tenative. Teams need to be prepared for inspection as soon as they arrive as inspection will close at 9:00AM promptly. Teams need to be prepared for judges to interview them in the pit area at all times.
Volunteer check-in 7:30 AM
Judges are required to arrive at 7:00 AM for training and to begin interviews with teams in the pit area.
Team Check-in 7:00 AM
Inspection 7:15 AM - 9:00 AM
Skills runs : The skills field is first come, first serve. The field will be open at 7:30 (once a team has passed inspection). Skills are first come, first serve. Please be patient. The robot must be present to be in the skills line. Teams without a robot will be asked to move out of the line.
Drivers meeting 09:00 AM
Qualifying Matches 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Lunch 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (Judges final interviews may take place during and after lunch)
Qualifying matches resume at 1:00 PM and run until all matches are finished (we plan for each team to run 7 to 8 matches)
Skills will close once the last qualifying match has been scored! Teams in line will not be given the chance to run once the last match is scored.
Alliance Selection 2:15 PM
Eliminations 2:30 PM - until finished
Awards 4:00 PM
Closing Remarks 4:30 PM
Clean-up 4:30 PM until done
Stream
Webcast Links to be added later
Judging Format
Judging Format All In-Person Judging - The Team Interviews and Engineering Notebooks will be judged in-person the day of the event. Teams should bring a physical copy of their notebook to submit to the judges.
Volunteer
Volunteer Running an event takes many volunteers. We are always in need of volunteers to assist the day of the event. Lunches are provided for all volunteers in addition to drinks and snacks the day of the event. Volunteers for the event will need to be present by 7:30AM until the end of the event which is normally no later than 4:30PM. • In order to offer judged awards at the event, the event partner asks that each team provide one adult volunteer to aide with this process. • Volunteers for the judges role must be 18 years of age or older an not in high school • The judge advisor must be certified through the VEX PD+. • Head referee must be 21 years of age. • The head referee must be certified through the VEX PD+. • High school team volunteers will judge ONLY middle school teams. • Middle school team volunteers will judge ONLY high school teams. • Field reset volunteers are needed and can be range from upper elementary to adult ages. • Scorekeepers are needed and ages can range from highschool age 16 to adults ages. Feel free to signup as a volunteer using the following link: Anyone interested in volunteering as a Key Volunteer would need to email the event partner (Margaret Trent) to get approval and the password to signup. KV's are judges, judge advisors, referee, and tech table operators. Please contact the event partner if you would have any additional questions. Margaret Trent margaret.trent@sullivank12.net
Emergency/Bad-Weather Policy
Emergency/Bad Weather Policy Sullivan County Department of Education will require the event to be canceled due to inclement weather. Please watch for an update from the event partner if the event must be rescheduled or canceled due to weather. Covid -19 creates many questions for coaches and event partners. Please know we want students to be safe and healthy. If the event must be canceled due to the number of Covid-19 cases for the area, we will work to reschedule the event as soon as possible. Your understanding during these difficult times is greatly appreciated.