Local underdog robotics team makes it to World Championship (but they need your help!)
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Some teenagers form bands in their garage—others form award-winning robotics teams.
The next generation of engineers is alive and well, as proven by this “motley crew” of nine middle and high school students who banded together to form The Dread Pirates Robotics Team.
Learn about their impressive winning streak and how to donate to help them compete at the World Championship in Houston this April.
Meet the first-year team: Dread Pirates Robotics
A dedicated and bright mashup of students from Hampton Cove and Owens Cross Roads formed the community-based robotics team in 2024.
In just one year, the team went from learning the basics of programming and robotics to claiming first place at the statewide Alabama robotics championship last month.
Earning a spot at the World Championship
The winning underdogs: Dread Pirates Robotics. (Dread Pirates Robotics)
The team’s impressive winning streak includes:
- 1st place of 23 teams at the Alabama FIRST Tech Challenge State Championship tournament
- 9 consecutive wins + the top 3 scores of the season in Alabama (beating former state champions)
- 19-1 season win record
- Ranked in the top 9% globally out of over 7,000 teams
If you’re wondering how the rookie team did it, the answer is grit and mentorship:
“How to explain it? Great coaching, for sure, from a core of three volunteer mentors. A simplistic robot design, dedicated parents, but mostly it was the Pirates themselves, and their commitment to learning the fine art of robotics.
It demanded long hours of work building, coding, chicken nugget runs and steely nerves in a high school gym, packed with shouting spectators, and maybe most important, an unshakable confidence that would impress the most seasoned competitor.”
Kevin Noworyta, GoFundMe organizer
How you can help the team go to the World Championship
The next step as State Champions is competing against the globe’s best robotics team at FTC’s World Championship in Houston, April 16-20, 2025.
“Houston is their chance to prove that rookies can be contenders, gaining experience while battling against the best.”
Kevin Noworyta, GoFundMe organizer
The challenge: an estimated $18K in expenses for travel and competition entry. The team and their families are now fundraising and looking for sponsors to help the team’s dream come true of competing at the world level.
Another local robotics team to compete at the World Championship
The FTC Browncats are another Huntsville-based robotics team of students from across North Alabama. They’re also fundraising to send their team to Houston after placing on the portfolio side of the state competition.
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