Students from all over the world vigorously check the robot’s mechanisms, each and every part, to ensure they’re ready for their next match. The announcers’ voices boom from inside the gymnasium, cracking the occasional dad joke that, more often than not, falls flat across the student body. Robots race across the field, and operators and drivers direct the robots to their desired destinations, making split-second decisions based on the situation. Every qualification match leading up to the alliance selection matters. Every team wants to progress further, but not every team will.
On Sept. 27-29, FRC robotics team Valor 6800 participated in Chezy Champs, an annual invitational off-season tournament hosted by FIRST team 254. Located in the Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California, 43 of the top FRC teams worldwide partook in 72 qualification matches before alliance selections, 13 playoff matches, and finals, a best out of three matches.
“We’re all very close with one another,” junior Zaeem Alam said. “We understand each other very well, which helps us communicate and work together efficiently.”
A total of 32 members, accompanied by four 4 faculty members and several parent chaperones, attended. Approximately 65% of the members returned from previous years, and the other 35% newly joined FRC.
“I admire the students’ willingness to learn,” robotics program director Elizabeth Lewey said. “Even if it’s something new from what they already know, they’re willing to try it.”
In preparation for the tournament, veteran students and mentors had two weeks to familiarize rookies of different sub-teams, teaching them vital knowledge and training them on various machines and concepts corresponding to their upcoming roles. Rookie students learned the process of scouting, where they collect qualitative and quantitative data from ongoing matches. Scouting helps them understand the game’s rules and prepares the team to make strategic choices when selecting alliances during the elimination rounds, where robots are drafted into teams based on performance in qualification matches.
“[We met] kids from different teams, different countries, different states,” Lewey said. “We were able to not only compete against them but with them as well.”
Teams from California, Hawaii, New York, Texas, Washington, North Carolina, Oregon, Colorado, Massachusetts, Israel, Brazil, and Mexico attended, competing and interacting with one another, forming bonds and taking notice of various design styles and parts of robots across the world that all participated in the same game: Crescendo.
“During alliance selections, I felt excited but a bit nervous that we wouldn’t get picked,” junior Mau Diaz said. “Even though we were among the top 10 best-scoring robots, we ranked low at the end of qualifications due to unlucky alliance pairings.”
Following qualification matches, eight alliance captains, determined by the top-performing teams during qualifications, selected three other teams to create an alliance for playoff matches. Team 6800 became a member of Alliance 7, with team captain 2046, as well as teams 1678 and 5817.
“I was thrilled with the alliance we ended up with,” team captain Pearl Lam said. “Getting to work with and learn from all of them was an amazing experience for my teammates.”
Then, 13 elimination matches occurred, where Alliance 1 and Alliance 7 ultimately emerged as the top teams. Team 6800 and their allies united in chanting, blending each team’s signature songs to bring together students from across the gymnasium in a shared alliance spirit.
“We all jumped from excitement when we won a match against the first alliance in finals,” junior Magnus Gaunt said. “The whole gym was screaming because no one expected it.”
Alliance 7 won one out of three matches against Alliance 1 in the finals matches, coming up short in the first one with a score of 158-156. In match two, Alliance 7 won by a singular point with a score of 125-124. Team 6800 suffered an electrical issue during the beginning of the third match leading to a score of 148-75 in Alliance 1’s favor. This determined Alliance 7’s finishing position of second place in the tournament.
“So many teams attending [the tournament] were staying in our hotel, including the tournament winner, Mechanical Advantage,” Alam said. “We got to share dinner and eat ice cream with them, and it was a great team bonding experience that represented Gracious Professionalism.”
(Kimora Beecher)
Throughout the season, teams see each other multiple times during in-season and out-of-season tournaments and familiarize themselves with one another. Students had the opportunity to tour PIT stations—individual team areas equipped with tools for making robot adjustments—and speak with other teams inside and outside the tournament facility, giving them in-depth knowledge of each team’s work and developments. FIRST teams exemplify Gracious Professionalism, which encourages all teams and their members to act courteously, with respect, inclusion, and grace toward others while keeping a competitive mindset.
“The culture we have created is one that encourages inside jokes, teamwork, and celebrating individual successes,” Lam said. “Even all the way in California, the team made me feel like I was right at home.”
