RECF Engage - Robotics @ the Fair

The School District of Manatee County is hosting a Manatee County Elementary School Conference Tournament on Monday, January 18, 2027.  This event will be held at the Manatee County Fairgrounds. This event is open to teams from the Manatee County Elementary School Conference only. Specific award winners will qualify for the Conference Championship on March 6th.  

All participants attending the event must have a completed RECF participant release form (PRF), which is available in English and Spanish. The coach will bring the PRFs with them to all events to show the event partner. The same forms can be used for the entire season. 

Volunteers are needed to help this event run smoothly. If you would like to volunteer at this event, please email Lynne Johnston at johnstonl@manateeschools.net or visit (link to sign up website). 

10:00 AM - Doors Open/Registration & Inspection Begins

10:30 AM - End Registration and Inspection

10:30 AM - Driver's Meeting

10:45 AM – Solo Matches Opens (Remove when posting: each team can attempt up to 5 solo matches and can allocate their attempts across the two solo match types however they like, time needed for solo matches = 2 min x 5 attempts x # of teams ÷ # of fields)

1:00 PM - Solo Ends

1:00 PM - Lunch Break

2:00 PM - Alliance Drivers Meeting

2:15 PM – Alliance Qualification Matches Begin

5:15 PM – Alliance Qualifications Matches End

5:45 PM – Alliance Finals Begin (on Mainstage)

6:15 PM – Alliance Finals End

6:30 PM – Awards (on Mainstage)

Digital Engineering Notebook Submissions / In Person Team Interviews: Team interviews will be conducted in-person at the event. Digital notebooks MUST be submitted no later than 4:00pm on Friday, January 8, 2027 in your RECFevents.com account.

This event will take place rain or shine, unless we have a weather event where the school district closes schools or the fair is canceled for the day.  In the event of rain, finals and awards will not be at the mainstage.  

In case of an emergency, law enforcement and medical personnel will be on-site at the fair. If needed, call 911. Follow up with the event partner, Lynne Johnston, to notify her about what happened.

Since this is a Manatee County Elementary School Conference event, teams participate free of charge.

Spectators will need to pay for parking and entrance to the fair.