This article explains what a VEX-certified Event Partner is, what the role involves, and why people choose to host VEX Robotics Competition events in their communities. It is written for anyone curious about hosting an event: coaches, teachers, parents, and community members who have experienced competition events with their teams and are ready to take that experience further.
Definitions of the terms used here are maintained in the central glossary.
The Role at a Glance
A VEX-certified Event Partner is the volunteer who serves as the overall manager of a VEX Robotics Competition event: its volunteers, its venue, and its materials. If you have ever attended a local VEX Robotics Competition event, a VEX-certified Event Partner made it happen. They picked the date, found the space, recruited the referees and judges, and made sure the teams went home with results and memories.
Event Partners are not employees of the Global Robotics and Science Foundation. They are coaches, teachers, parents, and community members who host events because their local teams need places to compete.
What an Event Partner Does
Most of the role happens before event day. In the weeks and months ahead of the event, you choose what kind of event to host, pick a date, secure a venue, set a budget, recruit volunteers, and post the event so teams can register.
On event day, you are the event's leader, not its busiest worker. Your volunteers run the fields, the matches, and the judging; your job is the bigger picture: welcoming teams, supporting your volunteers, keeping the day on schedule, and making the decisions only the Event Partner can make.
One boundary worth knowing: to keep judging fair, an Event Partner may not serve as a Judge or Judge Advisor at their own event or assign Judged Awards. You run the event. The judges pick its winners.
After the event, you submit the results, thank your volunteers and teams, and close out your budget.
Why People Become Event Partners
Event Partners give different reasons for taking on the role, and most give more than one, including things like:
- Supporting the local robotics community – Teams cannot compete without events. Every new event means more chances for students to share their robots, and their learning, on the field.
- Growing access to events – In many regions, teams travel long distances to compete. A new local event can change what the season looks like for every team nearby.
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Supporting their own program – Many Event Partners are coaches or teachers whose event registration fees help fund their own teams. A well-run event can be a meaningful fundraiser. Global Robotics also offers Event Partners program benefits that help keep hosting costs down. For 2026-2027, the following Event Partner discounts are available:
- 50% off Game & Field Elements
- 50% off Competition Fields
- 30% off shipping
What the Time Commitment Looks Like
Hosting an event is real work, and it is honest to say so. Planning starts weeks or months before event day. Picking the date, securing the venue, and posting the event come early, while recruiting volunteers and communicating with teams pick up as event day approaches. Event day itself is a full day, from morning setup through teardown after awards.
How much time the role takes varies from event to event and person to person. Your Program Support Team can help you understand what to expect for the event you have in mind.
Most Event Partners find the second event far easier than their first. The venue, the volunteers, and the plan are already familiar.
You Will Not Be Doing This Alone
Support is built into the role from day one. Every Event Partner works with the Program Support Team, the Global Robotics staff who manage team and event support for your region. Your Program Support Team helps you plan your first event, answers questions throughout the season, and is your first call when something unexpected happens. On event day itself, Event Central provides real-time assistance, so an answer is never far away.
Beyond your Program Support Team, you will have training materials, the Global Robotics Library, and a worldwide community of Event Partners who all started with a first event, with opportunities to connect through advisory groups and the annual Event Partner Forum.
Ready to Learn More?
If this role sounds like it might be for you, the next step is a conversation, not a commitment. See Becoming an Event Partner for how to express interest and what happens from there.