Team Exploration Grants

What

Team exploration grants are a new initiative to support South Carolina teams attending out-of-state events. The intention is to give teams a little extra help to ensure that more teams in the state can compete out of the state at a Signature Event, National Event, or the World Championship. Exploration grants help teams who might otherwise not travel to these events. For the 2024-2025 season, I will be sponsoring 6 grants of $500 each. If you are interested in supporting this initiative so we can offer additional support, please contact me.

When

Exploration Grants will be issued in two waves: at the beginning of the season and at the end of the season.

Wave 1 (1-3 receipents)

• Submissions Open: May 15, 2024
• Submissions Close: October 1, 2024
• Winners Announced On or Before: October 2, 2024

Wave 2 (1-3 receipents)

• Submissions Open: March 1, 2025
• Submissions Close: March 10, 2025
• Winners Announced On or Before: March 11, 2025

Grant Requirements

1. Must be a registered REC Foundation team in South Carolina for the 2024-2025 season.
2. The team must have attended an official qualifying event in the 2023-2024 season.
3. The team has not attended an event outside of the state of South Carolina in the 2023-2024 season.
   1. Preference will be given to organizations that have not attended out-of-state events in the past 3 seasons.
   2. Preference may be given to teams with a high percentage of students on free/reduced lunch.
   3. This requirement may be waived depending on the applicants
4. The team commits to attending an official tournament outside of South Carolina. This can be a Signature Event, a Regional Championship (for ADC), the World Championship, the CREATE US Open, or any other “high production” out-of-state event.
5. The grant will be in the form of a check or digital bank transfer. The receiving party must be affiliated with the team (i.e., school account, coach, parent).
6. The grant may be spent on any expenses incurred in attending an out-of-state event, such as registration, travel, or accommodations. You should not spend grant money on parts that will directly be on your robot. You should indicate how you intend to spend the money in your application.
7. Some requirements may be waived in exceptional circumstances.

Please direct any questions to [email protected]