REC Foundation Organizational Policy

Changelog

April 2025

• Updated all content to reflect guidelines for the 2025-2026 competition season

REC Foundation Programs

The REC Foundation supports a variety of programs aimed to inspire and motivate students to excel in STEM education. When referring to programs in the context of the REC Foundation Organizational Policy, the term encompasses the full range of competitions that are open for registration through the REC Foundation. Examples of REC Foundation programs include:

• VEX IQ Robotics Competition
• VEX V5 Robotics Competition
• VEX U Robotics Competition
• VEX AI Robotics Competition
• Aerial Drone Competition

Age Levels

The age level for a team is ultimately determined by the definitions in the Game Manual corresponding to the program, and is usually dependent on the ages of the students on the team. Typical age level categories include Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and University. Please select the appropriate program in the main page of the REC Library to locate the current Game Manuals.

Organizations may wish to register teams before the exact student composition is known. It is possible for the REC Foundation to change the age levels of registered teams provided that the team has not competed at an event yet that season. This change must be approved by the REC Foundation Regional Support Manager.

Note: Teams can opt to “play up” and register as the higher age level for their program. Once a team competes at a higher age level, it cannot be lowered later in the season.

What is an Organization?

Organization is a term used by the REC Foundation to refer to one or more teams that are connected by one or more of the following attributes:

• The location of the hosting school or group
• Team contact information
• Team number(s)

Defining an Organization

An organization is defined by their location and team number, and are identified by the information submitted when the team is registered. This information will populate RobotEvents.com and information displays at events.

Teams are identified through a base number and a letter. For example, team 123A has a base number of 123, and a letter of A. There may also exist a team 123B, team 123C, etc. All teams in the same program with the same base number are connected as part of an organization. Organizations may also have multiple base numbers as described in the next section.

Events may have limits to the number of teams from a single organization that may attend. For these situations, organizations with multiple numbers should refrain from using multiple numbers in order to bypass those limits. 

Organization Guidelines

• All teams within a base team number must reside in the same event region.
• All teams within a base team number must have the same organization type.
• Each school in a school district is recognized as a different organization and should have their own team number(s).
• Organizations with multiple age levels that are based from the same location can choose whether to register both age levels under the same organization number, or under separate numbers for each age level.
• Organizations with a single age level in a program  must register under a single number.*
• An organization must have one base number (or one base number per program and age level) unless they have more than 22 teams in their organization.
• Teams that share the same organization address, the same program, and the same age level  are one organization.
• Changes to the organizational address must be approved by the Regional Support Manager.
• Schools that have a JROTC program can register their JROTC teams as a separate organization if the JROTC teams are being run separately from their school programs.

*Organizations that have more than 22 teams in a program should register additional organizational numbers as needed.

Organizations and Code of Conduct

We appreciate that teams will try to follow this policy to the best of their ability, but that due to different circumstances it may be challenging to know if their teams should be classified as one or multiple organizations.  If organizations are unclear how they should be categorized, they should contact their REC Foundation Regional Support Manager for clarification.  

• An organization's address may not be switched to provide a team with a competitive advantage by competing in a region that does not match their physical region.
• These guidelines are intended to clarify what constitutes an organization in the context of REC Foundation programs. Teams should not try to find “loopholes” to exploit to gain a registration or competitive advantage.
• Falsifying or omitting information to gain an advantage or bypass limits in the number of teams per organization that can register for events will be treated as a Code of Conduct violation.
• Teams that intentionally violate the REC Foundation Organizational Policy may be in violation of the Code of Conduct.
• The REC Foundation reserves the right to make exceptions to this policy to best fit the needs of the region.

Definitions of Organization Types

The REC Foundation reserves the right to reclassify a team's organization type based on the available information.

This information has no bearing on a team’s ability to attend events, earn awards, participate in online challenges, or participate in any other activities. This data point is used internally by the REC Foundation. It is not publicly available to Event Partners or other teams.

A team misrepresenting their organization type is considered a serious code of conduct violation, and may result in the suspension of the team for the season.

School 

A school is an accredited full-time academic institution. A school can be a public school, charter school, private school, or college/university. Teams who are school-based must:

• Do all or most of the designing,  physical construction, and programming of robots on school grounds
• Be officially sponsored/supported  by the school
• Have a faculty member or an authorized agent of the school/institution as the team coach / primary contact who supervises teams during building and during competition events
• Have a school employee/administrator as the “Organization / Administrative Contact”
• Submit proof upon team registration that the school recognizes the team and confirms that the team meets the requirements of the previous criteria

Note: Teams that are run by parents of students or other community members and do not meet the above criteria are considered Private/Independent teams. 

Private/Independent Team

A private team typically does the majority of their robot construction and programming work in a private residence or space. Private teams are generally composed of friends or family members, and do not have open enrollment. These are sometimes referred to as “independent” or “unaffiliated” teams.

Non-Profit / Community Team

A community team is managed by or run through a non-school community organization such as 4-H, Boys and Girls Club, BSA or Girl Scout troop, community center, etc. Community teams typically meet and work in a public or semi-public location such as a library, community center, or religious center, and students go to that public or semi-public location to participate.

While some community teams may include monetary dues, the entity overseeing the organization is not a for-profit entity and teams are generally open to enrollment by all students in the community/organization they serve. The name of the community organization or registered non-profit organization should be in the organization name on RobotEvents.com.

Paid STEM Enrichment Program

Teams that fall into this category typically charge student registration fees, and are managed or run through a business entity. Student enrollment is often done by paid subscription. Paid after school STEM enrichment programs and paid STEM education centers or services would fall under this category.

Examples of Organization Base Numbers / Letters

Below are examples of organizations and how they are categorized per the REC Foundation organizational structure. 

Team Contact Definitions

There are many types of contacts associated with a team in RobotEvents.com: Primary Coach, Secondary Coach, Financial Contact, and Organizational Contact. The same person can be used for multiple contact types. Every named Team Contact must have a verified RobotEvents.com account and verified email address, which enables them to manage the team’s registrations. All Primary and Secondary Coaches for US teams must complete a background check.

It is important to note that all team contacts will have the ability to manage the team in RobotEvents.com, including registering the team for the season, registering for events, and modifying team information. 

If the team is associated with a school, at least one contact must be a staff member from that school. Schools that add parents as team contacts are encouraged to develop an internal process and guidelines for exactly what the non-school staff contacts are allowed and not allowed to do. 

The email address used to create the RobotEvents.com account for any Primary and Secondary Coach must be associated with a single user that matches the name on the account, and only that account holder should know the password.

If you need help to add, remove, or revise team contacts, reach out to your Regional Support Manager for step-by-step instructions.

Organization/Administrative/District Contact (required)

The team’s Organization/Administrative/District Contact is used when there is a centralized person who helps manage multiple teams or organizations. 

• The Organization/Administrative/District Contact may not necessarily serve as the “head coach” or Primary Coach for a Team, but rather as an organizer/coordinator for multiple teams.
• Examples of Organization/Administrative/District Contacts are:
  • A school district STEM Coordinator who pays registration fees for teams at multiple schools within the district.
  • A non-profit manager who helps with administration of multiple programs across different sites.
• The Organization/Administrative/District Contact must be an adult (18+ years old) and cannot be a student team member associated with a current team in that program, unless the team is registered for a college/university competition program.
  • Note: This contact may overlap multiple separate organizations.
• It is the intent of this contact to facilitate team registrations for large, complex institutions such as school districts. It is not the intent of this contact to allow multiple organizations to operate as a single entity to gain any advantage.
• This contact cannot register teams for events; they can only register teams for the season.

Primary Coach (required)

The majority of email communications from the REC Foundation and Event Partners are sent to the Primary Coach. The Primary Coach has ultimate decision-making authority regarding all team matters.

• The Primary Coach is typically the “head coach” of the team, and is responsible for maintaining the accuracy of all contacts and account attributes. Teams associated with schools require a staff member or an authorized agent of the school as the Primary Coach.
• Any major changes to a team’s RobotEvents.com account should be made by the Primary Coach.
• The Primary Coach is typically responsible for registering the team for the season and events
• The Primary Coach is responsible for ensuring that REC Foundation Participant Release Forms are completed for each student on the team.
• The Primary Coach should attend events with the team.
• The Primary Coach is the primary person responsible for the students on the team and will be the first person contacted with team-related communications.
• Primary and Secondary Coaches can post questions in the Official Q&A systems on RobotEvents.com.
• The Primary Coach must be an adult (18+ years old) and cannot be a student team member associated with a current team in that program, unless the team is registered for a college/university competition program.
• The Primary Coach for a US team must complete a background check.

Secondary Coach (optional)

A team’s Secondary Coach is an additional individual who will help manage the team in RobotEvents.com, and is not required. 

• The Secondary Coach is typically an “assistant coach” or other adult who will assist with the team and/or attend events when the Primary Contact cannot attend.
• The Secondary Coach can complete event registrations, and assist with managing REC Foundation Participant Release Forms.
• Primary and Secondary Coaches can post questions in the Official Q&A systems on RobotEvents.com.
• The Secondary Coach must be an adult (18+ years old) and cannot be a student team member associated with a current team in that program unless the team is registered for a college/university competition program.
• The Secondary Coach for a US team, if listed in RobotEvents.com, must complete a background check.

Financial Contact (required)

A team’s Financial Contact is the person responsible for processing payments through RobotEvents.com. 

• The Financial Contact coordinates payments for team registration, event registrations, and any product purchases made through RobotEvents.com.
• The Financial Contact must be an adult (18+ years old) and cannot be a student team member associated with a current team in that program, unless the team is registered for a college/university competition program.