March madness lives on Long Island, though it's not what you think.
Instead of local colleges, area high schools are doing battle. The competitors? Each one different in its own way, bringing a unique set of skills to the game. But we are not talking about basketball stars; this event is more than meets the eye. We're talking robots.
Forty-eight high schools from the area converged at Hofstra to take part in the Long Island Regional FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). The mission: design a robot over a six week timeframe to effectively compete in 'Breakaway,' a soccer-like game held on a 27-by-54 foot field.
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Winners of the regional contest get a 'Final Four' type reward: advancement to the FRC Championship next month in Atlanta. That's where the Sachem squad will be heading, as team 'Aftershock,' as they're known, finished as one of the top entrants, along with Bay Shore and Hauppauge.
FIRST was founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. FIRST students who participate in the competition may apply for over $12 million in scholarships. This year's FRC will reach more than 45,000 students from more than 1,800 teams worldwide.
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"All the kids are great, we have a really strong team this year," says Sachem teacher and team advisor Bob Wentzel. "It's great to give them a problem, and let them figure out how to handle it, how to get around every single problem that crops up."
Any student may join their school's team, and like any team, faces weeks of hard work and planning leading up to the competition.
"You're working with no sleep under tremendous pressure, and everybody has to work together... [the students] are learning to build together as a team, as one unit," Wentzel says.
Each team is sent a kit of parts, and from there the students and their advisors put their plan into action. Like in soccer, the aim is to score goals for points. Sachem opted for a more defensive strategy, aimed at preventing points.
Breakaway consists of two alliances of three schools competing. One team's partner might be their opponent later in the day. Sachem members decided to let their partners handle the scoring, while they focused on the dirty work.
"We're the best defensive robot," Sachem junior Thomas Pekar said after a victory. "We needed two robots to gang up on us to score a goal...amazing defense."
Breakaway is more than just scoring goals. There are hills to climb, tunnels to go through, and extra points are awarded if a robot is able to hang above the field by extending a mechanical arm onto a tower toward the end of the match.
Maybe someone actually has a 'FRC March Madness' bracket. If they had Sachem advancing, they're smiling right about now … on to Atlanta.
