VEX Coaches Start Here

If you are coaching a VEX Robotics Competition team for the first time, welcome! You are stepping into a role that can make a lasting impact on students as they learn to design, build, code, collaborate, communicate, and solve problems.

You do not need to be an engineer, programmer, or robotics expert to be an effective coach. Your role is not to have every answer. Your role is to create the environment where students can ask questions, try ideas, learn from mistakes, and take ownership of their work.

This article introduces the basics of VEX Robotics Competitions, what to expect as you start a team, and how to support students while keeping the experience student-centered.

VEX Robotics Competitions give students the opportunity to design, build, code, and compete with robots in an annual game challenge. Each season introduces a new game with its own field, scoring objects, rules, strategies, and engineering challenges.

Teams spend the season learning the game, building and improving a robot, coding robot behaviors, practicing driving and strategy, documenting their design process, and competing at events.

How to Start a Team

Starting a team is easier when you break the process into a few clear steps. You do not need to have everything figured out before your first meeting. Begin with the basics, use the official resources available to you, and let the team grow over time.

Choose the right competition program

Begin by deciding which VEX competition program best fits your students’ age, experience level, and available materials.

For most school and community teams, the two most common starting points are VEX IQ Robotics Competition and VEX V5 Robotics Competition.

VEX IQ Robotics Competition is designed for elementary and middle school students, typically ages 8–14. Teams build robots using the VEX IQ plastic construction system and compete in teamwork-based matches. In the Teamwork Challenge, two randomly paired teams work together to score as many points as possible. Teams can also participate in Robot Skills Matches, where one robot takes the field to score points through driver control and autonomous coding.

VEX V5 Robotics Competition is designed for middle and high school students, typically ages 11–18. Teams build robots using the VEX V5 metal construction system and compete in head-to-head matches. In standard matches, two alliances compete against each other, with two randomly paired teams on each alliance. Teams can also participate in Robot Skills Matches, where one robot works independently to score points through driver control and autonomous coding. 

V5 also has a special competition division for university-aged students through VEX U. Learn more about VEX U in the matching appendix of this year's game manual found on this page. 

When choosing a program, consider:

• The age and experience level of your students.
• The robotics materials your school or organization already has.
• Whether your students are ready for a head-to-head competition format (used in VEX V5).

Both programs provide meaningful opportunities for students to build, code, compete, document their process, and develop problem-solving skills.

Register your team for the season

Register your team for the season on RobotEvents.com. This is also where you will find and register for official competitions.

During registration, you will provide team and organization information and identify adult contacts for the team. The Primary Coach is usually the main adult responsible for team communication, event registration, participant release forms, and making sure students are supervised at events.

Use Competition 101 STEM Labs

VEX also offers Competition 101 STEM Labs for both VEX IQ and VEX V5. These STEM Labs are designed to help teams prepare for their first competition by walking students through the early parts of the season, including learning the game, building and driving a starting robot, developing strategy, improving the robot, and preparing for competition day.

These STEM Labs also introduce students to resources they may not be aware of, such as the Hero Bot. Every competition season also includes a Hero Bot: a starting robot design that can complete basic game tasks and gives students a place to begin. Build instructions are available at builds.vex.com and are also woven into the STEM Labs.

Coaches can use the Competition 101 sessions as a flexible roadmap for team meetings. You might follow the sessions in order at the beginning of the season, or return to specific sessions later when students need to revisit strategy, robot improvements, teamwork, or competition preparation.

The goal is not to rush through every session. Use the STEM Lab structure to give students a clear starting point while still allowing them to make decisions, test ideas, and take ownership of their robot and strategy.

Learn more about the STEM Labs and how to implement them in this article.

Prepare for your first event

Use RobotEvents.com to search for competitions near you. Once your team has an event goal, students can work backward to plan meetings, practice driving, improve code, prepare their engineering notebook, and make robot improvements before competition day.

Attending an event as an observer can also be helpful. Coaches and students can see how teams organize their pit areas, move through the match schedule, interact with alliance partners, and prepare for judging before competing themselves.

The Coach's Role

A coach helps create the structure students need to learn, practice, compete, and grow. This may include scheduling meetings, registering for events, communicating with families, organizing materials, helping students understand deadlines, and preparing them for competition day.

Coaches also help shape the learning environment. You may introduce resources, teach new concepts, model safe practices, and encourage students to reflect on their progress. Your support helps students stay organized and confident as they move through the season.

A helpful way to think about coaching is:

Create the structure. Teach the skills. Let students own the work.

Keeping the Team Student-Centered

VEX Robotics Competitions are student-centered. A student-centered team is one where students do the thinking, decision-making, building, coding, documenting, and strategizing. Coaches and mentors are there to guide and support the learning process, but students should make the final decisions and be able to explain the work they bring to competition.

When deciding whether support is appropriate, ask:

• Are students still making the decision?
• Could students explain this idea in their own words?
• Does this match the current skill level of the team?
• Am I helping students learn a process, or am I giving them an answer?

Strong coaching often sounds like:

• “What have you already tried?”
• “What evidence do you have from testing?”
• “What are two possible solutions?”
• “How could you make this simpler?”
• “Where could you document that decision?”
• “How will you know if the change worked?”

Student-centered coaching keeps the focus on learning. Students may build a simpler robot, choose a strategy that needs improvement, or take longer to solve a problem. That is okay. The goal is for students to learn through the process of designing, testing, improving, and explaining their own work.

A coach also helps shape the team environment. Creating a positive team culture can help students communicate respectfully, work through challenges, and support one another throughout the season. It is also important to help students and families understand that robotics competitions are not just about winning matches or earning awards.

Competitions are opportunities for students to learn, collaborate, solve problems, practice resilience, and grow through the engineering design process. Coaches can help foster this mindset by celebrating improvement, teamwork, persistence, and student ownership throughout the season.

For more guidance, see Cultivating a Positive Team Culture.

Supports for Coaches

Coaches do not have to build a team experience from scratch! Remember that every coach was a first-time mentor at some point. The resources below can help you register your team, structure meetings, support students, prepare for events, and continue learning throughout the season.