Regional Contest Info & Deadlines

2026 Regional Competition
February 6-7, 2026
Cinco Ranch HS, Katy, TX

2026 State Competition
April 9-11, 2026
Fort Worth Convention Center, Fort Worth, TX

2026 Nationals Competition
June 22-26, 2026
Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center
Washington, DC / National Harbor, MD

Major Deadlines

Date	Action Item
November 1, 2025	Deadline to affiliate to avoid late fees
December 15, 2025	Deadline to notify Gulf Coast Region of intent to compete
December 15, 2025	Last day to affiliate for an additional $250 late fee ​Deadline to register VEX team for intent to compete at State
December 15, 2026	Regionals registration opens
January 9, 2026	Lonestar Exam, Given on your home campus
January 14, 2026	Regionals registration closes @ 5pm. No one can register for Regionals after this date.
January 26, 2026	Regional Pre-Submits Open
January 26, 2026	Selected prompts will be released at noon
January 28, 2026	Mandatory Pre-Regional Meeting @ Cinco Ranch HS, Katy ISD Meal - 5:30pm Meeting - 6pm
January 29, 2026	Regional PreSubmit Closes @ 10pm Tech Support Closes @ 6pm Friday Night Testing Sign-Up Closes @ 10pm HS Seniors Judging Sign-up Closes @ 10pm ​HS Senior Scholarship Application Closes @ 10pm
February 6, 2026	Payment must be received BEFORE 6 pm ​Projects placed by 5 pm Be prepared, projects can not be placed after judging starts
February 7, 2026	Official Protests @ 3 pm Sign of on results @ 4 pm meeting ​Take home projects @ 4 - 5 pm Once we leave the building all results are FINAL
February 13, 2026	Finalize State Advancement closes @ 5 pm. ​All outstanding debits/issues must be cleared before 5 pm.

Important Regional Info
Regional Competition
February 6-7, 2026
Cinco Ranch HS, Katy, TX

Post Regionals Meeting:​ February 19, 2026 (Virtual)
​
Pre-Regionals
January 28, 2026
​Cinco Ranch HS, Katy TX
Attendance Mandatory (at least one advisor per school)

Cost of Competing at GCTSA Regionals: 
In order for your chapter to compete at Regionals there are a few costs that must be paid. All of this money goes toward feeding our judges, paying for student scholarships, and for minimal supplies like labels and such we need to run the contest.

1. Attend required meetings
2. $50 Chapter Fee per Chapter
   $10 Per Student Fee - Up to 5 Projects/events
   $5 Each additional project/event
   Scholarship DOES count as an event
   
3. No fee for advisors/chaperones
4. Advisor manhours – each advisor is expected to be present for the WHOLE EVENT Friday and Saturday and working at coordinating events, judging, wrangling kids, etc.  Please volunteer or I will need to assign you.
5. Judges – each chapter is expected to provide at a minimum of 2 judges (not including the advisor).  If you have a large number of entries/kids be sure to contribute more judges.  As mentioned earlier, we have over 1000+ entries that need to be judged! 
   A Sign Up Genius with judging slots will be set up. Please, please, share it on social media and get your volunteers to sign up. ​Make sure parents are not judging their own children. So, be aware of that while you’re recruiting volunteers.