Canadians reading this thread might be interested in checking out the Skills Canada robotics competition challenge from last year:
http://skillscompetencescanada.com/e...N_12Jan121.pdf
One difference you will see in VEX/FTC/FRC relative to the Skills competitions is greater international standardization, and a larger user base resulting in greater on-line support.
That said, I've seen students do both FRC and SkillsCanada in the same year and enjoy both competitions. Can't see why you wouldn't enjoy SkillsUSA, too.
Jason