Participating in Los Altos Robotics VEX IQ

Please read all of this page before registering your team.

Team Formation

Los Altos Robotics does not assign or place children on teams.  Parents and coaches are responsible for grouping children into a team, and then registering the team with RobotEvents.com.  Parents and coaches can use the TigerBots mailing list to find teams or team members - there is more information about finding and forming teams below.   We also have "I Need a Team" registration for players who are NOT currently on a team.  Again, this information is below.  Be sure to come back and read all of this page if you choose to skip down to the More Ideas for Organizing and Starting a Team section.  Los Altos Robotics supports team formation by providing parents information about other participants at their child's school.  We also provide training and other resources for coaches.   We recommend that each team is made up of both a coach and a team manager. The coach should focus on coaching.   The team manager should deal with all team finances, registration, and scheduling.

We ask that all parents check with their children to make sure they want to be on a VEX IQ team before signing them up.  It is clear to the coordinators that several of the children in past years have been less than enthusiastic about being on a team.  They end up playing with the robot parts and detracting from the experience of those that are excited about being on a team.  Worse yet, they may prevent others from being on a team because we run out of space.  So please don't sign them up because it will be "a good experience" for them.  If they are excited about being on a team, we are excited about having them on a team.  You may also want to visit the frequently asked questions page.

Expenses

REC Foundation provides participation cost information on the VEX IQ Challenge Teams page.

Registrations

Register as soon as you know that you are going to have a team. You don't have to have your team roster finalized.  The team must register with RobotEvents.com.  The registration fee is paid at the time of registration.

Event Support - Volunteers

In order to put on the scrimmage and tournament events, Los Altos Robotics needs support from teams.  There are a variety of positions available to suit different time schedules and interests. Most require only a couple hours of time. They're easy, they're kind of fun, and they directly contribute to the kids' enjoyment of the event.

Teams can also help by providing a VEX IQ field with game elements for use at a scrimmage or tournament.

More Ideas for Organizing and Starting a Team

Do you have any more specific ideas to help our child be on a team this season?

First of all, you are not alone!  Many parents trying to form a team are going through the same confusion.  Most of us have had experience with youth sports, like AYSO soccer, and are used to having teams formed by the league.  VEX IQ does not work this way.  Parents (or sometimes schools) are responsible for forming the teams.  While it is a little more work to form a team for robotics, there are some big upsides.  You have the choice of players which means they can participate with friends.  The teams are much smaller and more manageable.   Here are some things to help parents form a team:

1. Ask your kids the names of their 3 best friends.  Call the parents of each and see if they want to do robotics.
2. Ask your kids who in their class likes science.  Call those parents.
3. Sign up to be a coach!  Seriously, finding coaches is harder than finding players.  If you really want to make sure they are on a team, be their coach.  The whole philosophy of VEX Robotics is to let the kids do the work.  You don’t need to be an engineer to coach, and there is lots of guidance and support available from the REC Foundation and Los Altos Robotics.  Just be willing to spend some time with the team, help with organization, and have lots of positive energy.
4. Use your mailing lists… past sports teams, other activities like dance, music, scouts… you probably have the e-mail address of 100 kids in all those messages.  Send out a short message letting everyone know you are interested in forming a team.
5. Split the coaching job.  Often busy lives or travel schedules prevent people from volunteering to coach.  Find another parent and offer to split the duty.  Another way to split the job is to have one parent host the meetings and another coach.  Yet another way is to have one parent be the team manager and take care of all of the none technical tasks and have a coach lead some or all of the meetings and take care of technical things like installing the programming software on computes and helping the kids with it.
6. Come to a Parent Orientation Meeting  You may find other parents without a team there.
7. Post a message to the TigerBots Email List. This list is used for all Los Altos Robotics announcements.

• If posting to the TigerBots email list looking for a team, it is helpful to include Name, age, grade, school, phone#, and how you are willing to help without with running a team.
• It is very helpful if at least one person from each family involved in VEX IQ in the Los Altos area joins the TigerBots email list.

The "I Need a Team" Registration is For Players Who Are NOT Currently on a Team and teams looking for more players. 

If you submit an "I Need a Team" registration, we will share your information with others that register and their information with you.   We will also share it with local area coaches.   We also suggest that you post to the TigerBots email list to increase your odds of your child being on a team.

• I Need a Team Registration Form (not yet available for 2016)