It may not be considered a conventional sport, but when the machines enter the arena and time starts, the only thing that is on the mind of the competitors is scooping up points.
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Chesapeake (FIRST Chesapeake) held their District Championship at Virginia State University on April 4-6 at the Multipurpose Center. This competition was a qualifying competition for other competitions.
Founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST is a “global nonprofit organization that prepares young people for the future through life-changing youth robotics programs that build skills, confidence, and resilience.”
In addition to the robotics competition, FIRST also works with FIRST Lego competitions and FIRST Tech challenges.
Considered the ultimate sports for the mind, teams of high school students are challenged to build industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game. There are many rules, time constraints and other elements that make it a highly competitive exercise.
Teams also must find ways to fundraise to meet their goals.
Team Dogs of Steel from Westfield High School found sponsorship from Boeing among other big name corporations.
Teams design a team “brand,” in association with the project and promote their product in the local community.
The event was composed of many elements beginning with a team check in at 10 a.m. The coaches then met at 10:30 a.m. and then it was off to practice.
Teams must acclimate themselves to the arena and to obstacles that might interfere with their robot.
Robot game matches started at 1 p.m. and lasted all afternoon.
Following a parade of teams, the closing ceremony occurred in the upper atrium.
It is a long, excitement-packed day for all of the teams.
To watch matches from the weekend go to this link:
https://www.youtube.com/c/FIRSTChesapeake
