Choosing your events

How the season is structured

The shape varies by region, but almost every region is one of two models.

Qualifier model. You enter one or more one-day qualifying tournaments. Teams advance from each to a regional or state championship, and from there a few advance to a world championship.

League model. You play several short league meets across the season against the same pool of teams, with results accumulating, then a league tournament decides who advances. More matches, spread out, usually less travel.

Some regions run both. Your regional programme delivery partner publishes which applies to you, and it is the first thing to find out. The rest of this guide changes depending on the answer.

How many events to enter

Two is the right answer for most teams, and one is the wrong answer for almost all of them.

A single event means your first competition is also your last. Everything you learn about what breaks, how fast your cycles really are and what the field looks like arrives on the day the season ends. Two events turn the first into information and the second into a result.

The constraint is usually money rather than desire. Registration, travel, food and a day of everyone's time add up. Budget for the second event at the start of the season rather than deciding in December that you cannot afford it. That single line item is the most common thing missing from a rookie budget.

What makes one event better than another

• Date. An event in the first third of the season is a test; one at the end is a result. If you enter two, spread them.
• Distance. Anything over about two hours means an overnight or a 5am departure, and both cost money and drivers.
• Field size. A larger event usually means more qualification matches, which means more data and a fairer read on your robot.
• Advancement slots. Events do not all advance the same number of teams. A smaller event with proportionally more slots can be the better bet.
• Who else is there. A field of strong teams is harder to win and much better to learn from, and it makes your OPR a more meaningful number.

Advancement is arithmetic, not vibes

Advancement comes from two routes: winning or being on a winning alliance, and awards, with the Inspire Award ranking first. The number of teams advancing from any given event is fixed and usually small.

This matters for event choice because the award route is often the more realistic one for a young team, and it does not depend on the robot being the best in the room. How awards actually work covers which are winnable in year one. It is worth knowing that your portfolio is a competitive strategy, not a chore.

Look them up before you commit

Every event has a public record: who attended, what the scores looked like, and who won what. Reading last season's edition of an event tells you more about what you are entering than the registration page does.

Browse events by region on the region directory. Each event page carries its rankings, matches and awards, so you can see the field size and the level of play before you enter.

Register early and put the dates in one place

Popular events fill. The team that decides in October gets its choice; the team that decides in December gets whatever is left, which is frequently the furthest one.

Once you have the dates, put them where the whole team plans against them rather than in one adult's calendar. The schedule in the toolkit syncs official event dates directly, which also means you find out when one moves.