SEE HOW YOU Can Make a DIFFERENCE !

2026 Byte to Bite Game Volunteer Information

This page gives you a one stop shop for Volunteering
COMING LATER in September: 2026 Game File Resources and Updated Position Descriptions
ALL Event volunteers will need to have their driver’s license at Event Check-in

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Thanks to all the Kickoff Event Volunteers for a successful start to the season!
NOW AVAILABLE
ONLINE Judging + IN PERSON Practice Day and Game Day iVolunteer Link

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Virtual Meeting Mentoring Critical Design Reviews (CDR) – – October 13-15

• Please contact Gwynn Moore at gwynn.moore@bestinc.org if interested in mentoring

• We’re in need of volunteers with engineering or design experience who are willing to meet with teams to provide feedback and help teams to improve their design and approach to solving the problem.
• These reviews are critical for helping teams to solidify and improve their designs in order to have a functional and effective product for the competition.
• Your feedback is significant for their success!
• Volunteer hours are flexible during weekday afternoons and weekend daytime hours, and volunteers can expect to contribute between 4 and 12 hours over a week’s time, depending on their availability.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Questions and to receive our monthly volunteer newsletter email
Please send an Email: rm.best.info.request@bestinc.org

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

SICK POLICY – SPREAD KINDNESS NOT GERMS
If you are unwell, please stay home.   
If you or a member of your family is experiencing symptoms similar to those of COVID-19 or other infection or have had known exposure to someone, please stay home.
We encourage everyone to be fully vaccinated.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

2025 INFORMATION TO BE UPDATED FOR 2026

Volunteer Position Descriptions

Event Support Positions

Greet and Direct Participants

Two-person team welcomes participants as they arrive at the front door.   They direct to the next area based on participate role.

Team Check-In

Two-to-four person check in team provides programs, information, instructions, etc. This crew also receives team, mentor, teacher rosters and paperwork.

Hospitality

Three-to-four person team sets up the volunteer break room and provides food to volunteers and teams. Staffs the BESTique booth if available

Volunteer Check-In

One-to-two person check-in team provides programs, name tag with schedule, information, instructions, after event optional dinner plans, t-shirts, etc. to event volunteers.

First Aid

A volunteer or two with basic first aid skills will be present and available during the events for first aid as needed. The First Aid person has the event location, addresses of nearby clinics and any unique emergency contact information.  The First Aid person reports to the Pit Boss.

Master of Ceremonies

The Master of Ceremonies (MC) is the director for both Practice Day and Game Day. The MC gives the opening welcome and remarks; organizes and directs the opening ceremony; explains the game, its story, and the scoring to the participants and the spectators; introduces each step of the contest; and conducts the awards ceremony at the conclusion of the contest. The MC works closely with the Announcer, the Floor Boss, the Head Referee and the Scorekeepers to keep the contest moving on schedule throughout the day.

Announcer

The Announcer announces the participating teams and their assigned color for each match. At various times, the Announcer announces the leading teams and scores, the teams for the wildcard match, the teams advancing to the semi-final and final matches. In addition, the announcer is responsible for the background music at various times during the day (including intermissions), for providing guidelines to team bands and cheering teams, and for any other miscellaneous announcements.

Photographer

The photographer takes digital still pictures of each team at the beginning of the Game Day competition, each winning team during the Awards Presentation, staff, and random pictures for the webpage.

Video Photographer

The Video Photographer takes video pictures of the event: competition, pit area, participants, pep bands, cheering teams, interviews and awards presentation.

Pit Positions

Robot Compliance Check

Four-to-eight people inspect each team’s robot for compliance with rules before the competition, including the 24 pound maximum weight and the 24 inch cube dimension requirements. Robots may also be inspected again during or following the competition. These judges are familiar with the applicable game and kit documentation. Each year these judges use the current BRI-created Compliance Sheet to confirm each team’s robot complies with the rules. This team receives a paper copy of the Team Demographics form from teachers on Practice Day (Robot Compliance Check).

Pit Boss

The Pit Boss manages all activities in the Pit including Pit volunteer recruitment and training, Pit area set-up on event days, collaboration for in-house security and emergency medical personnel. The Pit Boss is the final authority for all problems in the Pit, including Robot Compliance Check-in, access control to Pit of teams and judges, and ensuring good safety practices in the Pit. The Pit Boss coordinates with Judges and oversees the Staging Crew (Pit Boss Job Description).

Staging Crew

This four person crew queues up the teams for each upcoming match so that they are ready to move onto the game floor without delay after the teams from the previous match have cleared the floor. Two people work at the “In-The-Hole” Staging Tables to organize the next group of four teams. The In-The-Hole crew consists of the Lead Queue and the Lead Driver Check. Two people work at the “On-Deck” Staging Tables near the game floor. This crew requires excellent communication capability.

Pit Monitors (and Runners)

This four person crew oversees all pit operations and report to the Pit Boss. This crew checks that people in the pit are wearing pit passes and looks for safety-related issues. They forward teams with hardware / software issues to the Technical Support Team in the pit. The Pit Monitors carefully view how much work is being done on the robots by mentors. Mentors are allowed to provide guidance with repairs, etc., but must not perform the repairs.

A few runners assist the Staging Crew, Scorekeepers and other officials. They locate individuals or teams as needed; assist communication between the scoring table and teams, or between the field and the pit area; and perform other tasks as needed (Pit Monitor Job Description, Pit Runner Job Description).

Game Field Positions

Floor Boss

The Floor Boss (FB) is the final authority for any dispute that arises during the contest. The FB acts as the “Trouble Shooter” to resolve any problem that arise. The FB must be very familiar with the rules and the Q & As, and is available at all times during the contests. The FB participates in training the referees and judges (Floor Boss Job Description).

Head Referee

The Head Referee (HR) supervises the referees to consistently follow rules and works with the referees when requested to resolve an issue.  Issues may be raised to the Floor Boss for advice and resolution.  The HR verifies teams are in position to start, referees are ready, and the game floor is properly set before indicating to the timekeeper within scorekeeping to start each match. The timekeeper starts the countdown timer and ending buzzer for each 3-minute match when directed by the HR. The HR wears a striped referee shirt. The floor boss is a backup to HR to allow trade off during the contest.

Referees

Four to eight referees – with two teams of four allowing trade-off relief during the contest, either singly or as a team. Referees must be trained on the rules, what to look for, and the scoring procedure. Their role in the scoring and the communication with the Scorekeepers is critical to the smooth operation of the contest and keeping protests to a minimum. Referees monitor each of the teams and have ultimate authority during the competition. They count game field scoring pieces and complete the scoring sheet after each match. They have the student team driver confirm the scoring sheet is filled out properly. They then reset the game floor to prepare for the next match. They wear striped referee shirts (Referee).

Game Field Setter Crew

The game field setter crew works closely with the referees to quickly reset the game field to the official starting position. Speed in resetting is important with approximately a 3-minute reset turn around each match. This position requires a lot of standing, bending and moving numerous small objects.  Two Game Setters / quadrant will be on the carpeted ground during every reset period.  One person from each quadrant team will need to carefully place multiple small game pieces in the 6″ x 6″ x 11″ building floor so they will need nimble hands. Two additional Game Setters put gathered small game field pieces into containers in a typical 3-minute reset period. A child who can perform the following may fill this position with sufficient maturity to follow directions and work in a team, work quickly, and able to perform the same task approximately every 6 minutes for several hours.

Scorekeepers

Two to four scorekeepers enter data into scoring software from scores provided by the referees at the end of each match. They may also perform manual scoring as a backup and double check the automated scoring. The Scorekeepers’ computer displays the match results during the competition, including the conclusion of the seeding matches, prior to the wildcard match, after the semi-final matches, and the conclusion of the competition.

Judging Positions

Awards and Judging Lead

The Awards and Judging (A&J) Lead is in charge of all of the judging. The A&J Lead recruits the Award Judges and Lead Judges and briefs them. The A&J Lead collects the Engineering Notebook scores from the Lead Engineering Judge (LEN) and consults with the Hub Director and Scorekeepers to determine which teams compete in the Wildcard match. The A&J Lead collects the scoring results from the Lead Judges and Awards Judges, including the BEST Award Judges, and provides all of the judging results to the MC prior to the Awards Presentation.

Award Judges

Ten to twenty judges are needed in person on Game Day for the BEST Award, Founders Award for Creative Design Award, Most Robust Machine Award, and for all Hub optional awards. Design Review Mentoring is online both around 2-weeks and 5 weeks into the competition.  Training is provided for each position.

The Design Review mentoring focus is design improvement feedback with no scoresheets or scores assigned.

The Engineering Notebook judging takes place online self-paced starting two weeks between Practice and Game Day. More details in specific Notebook Judge descriptions.

The Marketing Presentation judging takes place in person on Practice Day prior to Game Day.

All the judging is performed using provided training, scoresheets and rubrics and other guidance. The scoring results are given to the A&J Lead prior to the Awards Ceremony.

Lead Engineering Notebook Judge

The Lead Engineering Notebook Judge is responsible for recruiting and briefing the Notebook Judges, scheduling the judging, collecting the scores, and providing the results to the A&J Lead. The lead consolidates all the team notebooks online on Practice Day. The judge reviews the scores and comments and provides team notebook evaluations and scores prior to 5 PM on the Tuesday before Game Day to the A&J Lead to be returned to the teams.  The judge provides notebook scores to Scorekeeping to determine Wildcard competition spots.

Engineering Notebook Judges

A team of Engineering Notebook Judges are needed during the 2 weeks between Practice Day and Game Day. The Judges will be briefed on the applicable rules and scoresheets by the lead judge prior to the competition. Each team is required to prepare an Engineering Notebook pdf file and post it online on Practice Day to be eligible to compete on Game Day.  Each judge will evaluate notebooks, based on provided training and BEST rules and scoresheet rubrics. The Judges complete scoresheets with evaluated points for each team’s notebook and also include important “improvement needed” feedback on the scoresheets.

Game Field Positions

Pit Positions

Judges

_________________________________________________________________________________________