Northern California VEX IQ Regional Championships
February 28 – March 1, 2026 · Sacramento, California. Placer Robotics hosted the Northern California VEX IQ Regional Championships at MOSAC — 500 students on 104 teams, competing with robots they designed, built, and programmed across a seven-month season. Elementary teams competed Saturday, middle school teams Sunday, with finals and awards closing each day.
Placer Robotics' 295Z Zwoks earned the Excellence Award — the event's top honor — and a place at the VEX IQ World Championship.
Watch the championships
A look at the season's game and what championship weekend feels like from the stands.
This guide is written for spectators. Competitors should use the official VEX event page for check-in, judging, and technical schedules.
Public event schedule
Saturday, February 28
Elementary school championships
Sunday, March 1
Middle school championships
Plan your visit
The championships are open to the public and family-friendly. Team pits, head-to-head teamwork matches, and skills fields run all day, with the best viewing mid-morning through mid-afternoon — then explore the museum exhibits and planetarium.
Tickets. MOSAC is at 400 Jibboom Street, Sacramento, CA 95811. Museum entry is $19.95 for adults and $16.95 for youth aged 2–17; members and under-2s are free. Buying tickets online speeds up entry at the door.
Parking. The MOSAC lot is operated by the City of Sacramento at a flat $6 per day — pay at the on-site kiosks or through the ParkMobile app using zone code 6848. The lot can fill during championship weekend; overflow parking is available at the Best Western at 236 Jibboom Street, or at the Old Sacramento City Garage.
Watching the game
The 2026 season's game, Mix & Match, is an engineering puzzle in motion: two-robot alliances collaborate in a 60-second sprint to collect, sort, and stack colored goals. It rewards driving precision, mechanical reliability, and split-second teamwork.
Following along
The VEX Via app carries match schedules and live results all weekend, and we stream every field live on YouTube.
Watch the 2026 broadcasts
Both days were streamed end to end. These are the full recordings — use them to find a specific match rather than to watch straight through.
Team information
Qualification and registration run through events.vex.com. School and community teams in the Placer Robotics League compete alongside our own teams all season toward this event.
Volunteer
It takes a village to run a championship. Technical officials are pre-certified, and we always welcome community volunteers for the rest.
- Field resetting
- High-energy help to prep the field between matches.
- Queuing and flow
- Helping teams get to their matches on time.
- Pit support
- Assisting teams with directions and general information.
- Crowd support
- Helping spectators find the best viewing areas.
Interested? Sign up to volunteer or email events@placerrobotics.org.
Support the championship
The 2026 championships were supported by:
