Gulf Shores High to Host World’s First VEX AIR Drone Competition Nov. 20

GULF SHORES, Ala. — Student drone pilots will take to the air at Gulf Shores High School on Friday, Nov. 20, when the school hosts what organizers describe as the world premiere of the VEX AIR Drone Competition, a new robotics format in which high school teams fly, program and reconfigure drones instead of driving robots across a floor.

According to the school, no team anywhere has yet competed in a VEX AIR event, which means the students who fly in Gulf Shores will be the first in the world to do so. The milestone has drawn attention well beyond Baldwin County: VEX Robotics leadership and members of the development team that created VEX AIR plan to travel to Gulf Shores to watch their game played in competition for the first time.

The event is being hosted by Gulf Shores High School and its Hyperwave robotics program. It is scheduled to run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., though organizers note the schedule is tentative.

At a glance

• What: World Premiere VEX AIR Drone Competition, playing the game Pick & Drop
• When: Friday, Nov. 20, 2026, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (tentative)
• Where: Gulf Shores High School, Gulf Shores
• Host: Gulf Shores High School and its Hyperwave robotics program
• Expected guests: VEX Robotics leadership and VEX AIR developers, school robotics coaches, school board members and central office administrators

A new kind of robotics competition

VEX Robotics is best known in schools for its ground-based robotics programs, in which students design, build and code robots that compete in timed matches. VEX AIR takes that model into the air. The company markets VEX AIR as a STEM learning system for students in grades 9 through 12 that combines a customizable drone, coding software and classroom curriculum.

VEX has called the drone competition its first played entirely in three dimensions. Gulf Shores coach Jamie McClung put it in similar terms. “VEX AIR adds a third dimension to competitive robotics, and Gulf Shores is proud to be where it takes off,” said McClung, who is also one of the event’s hosts.

The 2026-2027 season marks the first official season of VEX AIR Drone Competition events, according to VEX. Teams register and find events through the company’s events portal, and the official game manual is published online.

How Pick & Drop works

Teams in Gulf Shores will play Pick & Drop, the first VEX AIR game released by the company. In the game, drones pick up colored scoring objects and drop them into goals during timed flights. Teams earn more points when an object’s color matches the goal it lands in.

According to VEX, the game is played on a 12-foot-by-12-foot field of foam tiles surrounded by a 1-foot border. The field holds 20 objects called Orbit Balls and 18 called Cargo, some starting on rail structures and others on the floor. Scoring structures include a Drop Zone, two Pole Goals, two Drop Towers, two Cargo Platforms and a Ring Tunnel, along with two Field Platforms. Drones can also earn points by flying through the Ring Tunnel and by landing on a Field Platform before a three-minute match ends.

VEX has also built variety into the season. Each round uses one of six scoring systems, so the point value of each goal changes from round to round while the field and objects stay the same. In announcing the game, VEX said teams that read the scoring system and adjust their plans will find opportunities that teams flying the same plan every match will miss.

Every team at the Gulf Shores event will fly the same VEX AIR competition drone. That puts the emphasis on programming, piloting skill and strategy rather than on building a different machine. During a match, pilots can land in a pit-stop area and swap in a different attachment module, battery or set of landing feet to change how their drone plays the field.

Alliances, rankings and a one-match final

The tournament format rewards consistency as well as a big score. In qualification matches, teams will be paired into two-team alliances, and each team will be ranked by its average score across all of its matches.

Once qualifications end, the top-ranked teams will choose their own alliance partners for a single-match final round. The alliance that posts the highest score in that final will win the first VEX AIR tournament title. Scores will be shown live on a big-screen leaderboard so teams and guests can follow the standings throughout the day.

Coaches: A chance to be first

Coach James Salvant, who is also hosting the event, said being first is something students will carry with them.

“Our students get to be the first in the world to compete in VEX AIR, and that is something they will remember for a long time,” Salvant said.

He said the presence of the game’s designers adds to the opportunity. “Having the people who designed this game in the room, watching students program their drones, fly them, and re-tool them mid-match to adapt their strategy, is a rare chance for our kids to show what they can do and talk with the engineers who made it possible,” Salvant said.

McClung said Gulf Shores students have done far more than sign up to compete. “Our Hyperwave students have helped build this event from the ground up, down to the live scoring system that will run on competition day,” McClung said. “We invite every team that wants to be part of this first chapter to register and come fly with us.”

Students building the event, not just flying in it

The fact that Hyperwave students helped design the live scoring system that will power the big-screen leaderboard is notable. Running a tournament means tracking match results, calculating averages and updating rankings in real time, the same kind of practical software problem that computer science and engineering students face after graduation.

Hosting also gives students a look at the less visible side of competition: scheduling matches, setting up a field, coordinating volunteers and welcoming visiting teams and dignitaries. For a first-ever event that the game’s own developers will be watching, those details carry added weight.

Part of a growing STEM profile at Gulf Shores High

The drone premiere is the latest in a string of technology milestones for Gulf Shores High School this fall. The school’s cyber team placed third at the National Cyber Summit’s Cyber Cup in September, finishing behind only two college teams, as South AL News reported. In October, Gulf Shores city leaders recognized the school for its unbeaten football regular season and for a cyber team ranked sixth in Alabama in the national CyberPatriot competition.

Robotics has also been a draw for individual students. Senior Ana Vo, who hopes to study chemical engineering or materials science, told South AL News in September that the school’s robotics program helped her find her niche, and that she planned to join the competition team this year.

Gulf Shores City Schools has operated as its own district since separating from the Baldwin County Public Schools system in 2019, and Gulf Shores High School is its only high school.

Why drones in the classroom

Drones are increasingly used in fields from public safety and agriculture to surveying, film and infrastructure inspection. Locally, the Foley Police Department is preparing to launch a drone program, and the U.S. Army picked Fort Rucker in the Wiregrass as its Drone and Autonomy Center of Excellence.

Educational drone programs such as VEX AIR aim to teach the skills behind that work: coding flight behavior, understanding how a drone moves in three dimensions, planning a route under time pressure and working as a team. In its announcement of the game, VEX said it hopes students will grow in “airmanship, adaptability, spatial awareness, and the discipline to fly a plan under pressure.”

Who will be watching

In addition to the VEX Robotics delegation, organizers expect school robotics coaches, school board members and central office administrators to attend. For educators considering whether to add drone competition to their own programs, the premiere offers an early look at how the game plays out with real students on a real field.

How to take part

McClung said the school is inviting any team that wants to be part of the first VEX AIR competition to register. VEX AIR events, including team registration, are listed on the VEX events website at events.vex.com. More information about the drone platform and the Pick & Drop game, including the official game manual, is available from VEX Robotics.

Families and community members interested in attending should contact Gulf Shores High School for details, since the event schedule is still listed as tentative.