Agenda

Wednesday, January 20th 

Thursday, January 21st

**All teams will experience at least eight (8) Qualifying Matches each.

Volunteer

Be a part of the excitement by joining the team of volunteers who will help in a variety of ways to make this event a success for the students involved!  You can register for an entire day or just a portion of the day, as your schedule permits, for most positions.

Lunch is included for all full-day volunteers.

Please use the following link to register if you would like to help volunteer in some capacity at the Kalahari Classic event this year:

Volunteer SignUp - COMING SOON!

Emergency/Bad Weather Policy

Teams will be notified 24 hours prior to the event if there is a weather concern for the event.

Refund and Payment Policies

Refund Policy:

Regardless of whether the Event Partner or the Team cancels, registration fees will NOT be refunded. 

Note:

Team swapping is not allowed within 4 weeks of the event.

Teams with unpaid purchase orders or unpaid event registrations that are 90 days past due will not be able to register for events.

Webcast

All live streams can be found on the Kalahari Classic YouTube Channel. 

Judging Format

• Digital Engineering Notebook Submissions 
  • Engineering notebooks will be submitted digitally for evaluation via a link found within the "My Account" panel of the team contact on VEX Events.
  • The notebook submission deadline is Monday, December 28th, 2026,  at 11:59 PM EST.
• In-Person Team Interviews:
  • Team interviews will be conducted in-person at the event.
  •  All teams will have the opportunity to be interviewed at least once.  Some teams may receive second interviews if the Judges need additional information. 

Judges will be working in accordance with the Global Robotics Judging Policies with the goal of a judging experience that is fair, consistent, transparent, and centered on student learning and achievement.

Please refer to the Competition Judging Overview for all judging and Engineering Notebook information, criteria, procedures, rubrics, etc. 

Payment

Registration fees are due within three weeks of registration or by November 1st, 2026, whichever comes first.  Any teams that fail to pay registration or submit a PO within these guidelines will be moved to the waitlist and the spot will be opened up to other teams.  

Note: Teams with unpaid purchase orders or unpaid event registrations that are 90 days past due will not be able to register for events.

Hotel Information

Hotel Information

Thank you for choosing the Kalahari Resort. Here is the information for your group to reserve through our online reservations system.

Reservation link - COMING SOON!

Once you click on the link, it will take you to the event pricing web page for this event. 

**Please note, the rooms will be available online until the cutoff date or until the rooms are gone, whichever comes first. Please reach out if you have any issues with reserving your rooms** 

Important Reservation Information

Resort Fee of $24.99 is waived

Standard Run of the House Sleeping rooms will provide four (4) wristbands each day to the nation’s largest indoor water park, additional person in sleeping room at $25.00 each per day. Larger rooms will include a greater amount of wristbands.

Deposit policy for individual reservations: One night (plus tax) at the time the reservation is made. Cancellation policy for individual reservations: 72 hours, or more, prior to arrival to receive full refund less $25.00 processing fee. Less than 72 hours prior to scheduled arrival forfeits entire deposit.

Transportation Information

Concierge service located in Resort Lobby – individual pricing is available to guests to include Cleveland Hopkins Airport and local attractions shuttle.

General Information

Complimentary wireless internet for all guests in the hotel and meeting rooms.
Complimentary on-site, self-parking for all guests
20% off all services at Spa Kalahari for all guests.

Signature Event Early Bird Policy

1. Formerly the "Early Bird Policy," all Signature Events will have a specific Priority Registration that is independent of all local/regional Priority systems.

2. Each team begins the season with three (3) tokens for Signature Events, allowing them to register during the Signature Event Priority Registration period.

3. A Signature Event Priority Registration opportunity is not taken away if a team registers for a tournament hosted by their school or organization (where the team’s coach is the Event Partner).

4. If a team registers during the Standard Registration period, a token is not taken away.

5. The official Priority Registration policy can be found in the Global Robotics Library.

6. To find out how many Signature Event Priority Registration tokens your team(s) have remaining, select the "My Teams" option in VEX Events.