Among our many clubs here at ACP is the hard working Robotics team. On Saturday, December 9, two VEX Robotics teams, “The Blacksmiths” and “The Jesters”, competed in tournaments. The Blacksmiths, (6030B), competed at the 2023 Sahuaro Qualifier in Tucson, and the Jesters, (6030J) competed at RoboBucs Qualifier, located at Newell Barney Junior High. The Blacksmiths not only qualified as the Tournament Champion, but placed third in qualifying rounds, as well. Not only did the Jesters win the Tournament Champion, but they finished in 5th place in qualifiers and were named the Robot Skills Champion and awarded with the Excellence Award. The three awards are the most prestigious ones a team could possibly win. 

Among the Blacksmiths is the dedicated Mason Hill, who joined the dynamic team due his sister also being in Robotics during her high school years. He wanted to see what Robotics was truly about, and he ended up enjoying it very much as he gets to spend time with friends and flourish as a team. His main job in Robotics is driving. Mason and his team built a complex robot and made the code for it as well. At the end, they drove it around, which was very rewarding as they witnessed the result of their hard work. However, driving for a short amount of time at the competitions often breaks the robot and causes minor problems, which contributes to the stress of the competitions. Since Mason participated in the Saguaro tournament in Tucson last Saturday, he describes it as “a small competition mostly with this serving as the first competition for many of the teams”. Mason also expressed, “The tournaments are very tiring, but overall they are pretty fun, and when we do well, they improve my outlook on robotics. The tournament was easier than others, and we did very well.” 

As the team is now qualified for the Arizona State Championship, it serves as proof of their effective team work, and how they all have phenomenal communication in not only building, but coding and driving as well. Robotics is not an easy hobby as it requires a lot of dedication and time.  The countless hours they spend building and driving the team’s robot often proves to be very beneficial to the team members. Along with Mason’s teammates, they all show dedication and hard work and make ACP proud. They set wonderful examples of venerable students. Go Knights!