Competition Preparation

All teams should come prepared for competition. Below is a non-exhaustive list of steps that every team should take to ensure that they are prepared.
1. Review the rules and run through the inspection checklist about a week before the competition so that there is ample time for adjustments. The inspection checklist can be found here.
2. Check the official VEX forums for rule updates and changes.
3. Carefully read all of the information contained in the tournament posting on events.vex.com
4. Pack for the event the day before the day of departure. Here are a few items that you don't want to forget.
Goggles/Safety Glasses
Spare parts & tools
Batteries and chargers
Programming cable
Power strip
Laptop computer
Engineering notebook (if you have one, helpful for Judges, Design and
Excellence Awards )
Banners and other decorations for your team pit
5. Be sure to read 101 Things You Should Know Before Your First VEX Tournament.
6. Review the descriptions and criteria for the awards that are being given during the tournament.
7. Remember that safety comes first, please don't bring tools that pose a safety risk to your team, or others nearby as the venue is a very tight fit. Also, remember no grinding or other actions that create sparks.
8. Understand how the game will be played. VEX participants are more than welcome to watch the referee training videos before they attend a tournament.
9. Read through the Robot troubleshooting guide. The guide can be found here.
10. Ensure that you have the latest version of firmware.

Participation and Consent Form

A completed form for all participants must be turned in. Forms can be completed and submitted online by following the link: https://events.vex.com/consent

Online is preferred, but paper is accepted. Team leaders will need to collect the completed forms for all team members attending the event and turn them in to the registration desk when checking in.

Skills Challenges

All teams will be offered exactly 3 attempts of each Robot Skills Challenge (3 Driving and 3 Programming). If your team misses their chance to complete their attempts during the time provided, they cannot be made up. NO EXCEPTIONS.

Venue: Murray High School
Address: 5440 State Street, Murray, Utah 84107, United States
Dates: January 9, 2027
Grade Level: All
Skills Challenge: Yes
Judging Format: Remote Notebooks, In-Person Interviews

Registration & Logistics

Event Type: Open Tournament
Event Format: In-Person
Field Control: Smart Field Control
Capacity: 40
Spots Open: 18
Event Region: Utah
Max Registrations per Org: 10
Standard Registration Opens: 12-Sep-2026 12:00 EDT
Registration Deadline: 26-Dec-2026 12:00 EST
Payment Deadline: 06-Jan-2027 17:00 EST
Price: $60.00

Agenda

Please Note: In the interest of time, the schedule will move ahead if we finish early. Please plan accordingly when making travel arrangements or getting skills attempts in. When qualifiers are done, we will close skills and move on to finals. When finals are done, we will move on to awards and then end the tournament.

Saturday
8:00 AM - 9:15AM Pits open, inspection and registration begins
9:15AM - 9:30AM Drivers meeting
9:30AM - 12:00PM Qualifying matches and Judging
9:30AM - 12:00PM Robot Skills and Programming Skills Challenge *
12:00PM - 1:00PM Lunch
1:00PM - 3:00PM Qualifying matches and Judging
1:00PM - 3:00PM Robot Skills and Programming Skills Challenge *

15 minutes after the end of Qualification rounds, Alliance selection begins

15 minutes after the Alliance selections, the elimination Tournament will begin

5-10 minutes after the final match of the elimination tournament, Awards will be given out.

* Each team will be given 3 attempts at both Driving Skills Challenge and Programming Skills. Both skills challenges will end early if qualification matches end ahead of schedule.

Stream

Webcast This event will be live streamed. Link to be determined.

Travel Info

Date: 9-Jan-2027 Murray High School 5440 State Street Murray, Utah 84107 United States Travel Info This event is taking place at: Murray High School 5440 S State Street Murray, Utah 84107 Park in the South parking lot and enter through the main (south) entrance.

Judging Format

Judging Format Engineering Notebooks will be due 2 weeks before the event (December 26th at midnight Mountain time) in order to give our judges plenty of time to review them. Interviews will all take place on the day of the competition.

Volunteer

Volunteer Our volunteers make these events possible! If you are interested in volunteering at this event please complete this Google Form .

Emergency/Bad-Weather Policy

Emergency/Bad Weather Policy In the case of severe inclement weather, the event will be canceled and a refund will be provided. Even if the event isn't cancelled, please stay home if you cannot travel safely. If you cannot make it to the event, not refund will be provided, but you may apply your payment at this year's tournament to next year's tournament.