How we started
Our rookie season, 2022/23, was full of ups, downs, and climbing over HUGE hurdles with amazing community support. It started out as an idea from our principal, Erica, and our teacher, Roddy, and slowly grew into the team. We didn’t completely understand the scope of what we had taken on. Not far into this a lot of people left, but we kept going. Then Jack joined and gave us a vision to work towards. We gained some hype at our district events at our school, but the full-on support came when we went to States, and then Worlds.Really, though, Greenspire High School students wanted a robotics team, so they made a robotics team.
Build Season
After the unveiling of FRC’s challenge for the season, we got to work. This included a lot of starts and restarts. The main frustration came when we found out we had been building the robot wrong for a bit, but we worked through it. The team learned how to work with electrical components and their corresponding tools.A part of the build season that stood out to one of our team members was the last few nights before our first competition, trying to finish the robot and having our drive team learn to drive and play the game together. It was both fun and very stressful.
Our first Competition
In March, we attended and competed in our first FCR event at Traverse City Central High School. Heading into this event, we had no idea that we should have been seeking out sponsors and donations for months and also that there is a tradition of swapping “team buttons” at competitions. However, we were so excited to be there that it didn’t matter. We also received the 2023 Rookie Inspiration Award at this event.“One of the moments that stood out to me most was when we were getting inspected and our robot was conductive. I also remember us talking to the judges and feeling so confident and cool. My favorite moment has to be when we went up against another team who we thought were going to pummel us and we won.” – Sadie, Pit Mgr.
“The worst moment at our first competition was when the robot didn’t connect to the radio in the first match, but we came back from that and knocked the team that went on to win the entire thing into the lower bracket.” – Liam, Driver
“We learned how the competition works and what we needed to grow upon as a team. We also learned what we needed (buttons). [Also,] being a rookie team, getting picked for an alliance wasn’t expected. But, it felt amazing that other teams trusted our skills enough to pick us for an alliance.” – Jayden, Electrical Mgr.
District LSSU competition
The roadtrip to the U.P. was our first time traveling together. But once we got there and the competition started, any awkwardness went away and the team felt very united. We made it to the regional competition at LSSU (Lake Superior State University) and received the Rookie All Star award, Highest Rookie Seed, and we were finalists.We were the first pick on our second ever FRC alliance and the alliance made it all the way to the finals, where we were eliminated. However, our ranking was such that we qualified to continue on to the FIRST Michigan State competition.
“Once we had made it to finals, I was flabbergasted and honestly felt like we could do anything.” – Sadie E., Pit Mgr.
“Making it to finals was invigorating and eye opening to the possibilities this team can make happen.” – Liam E., Driver
State Championship
The State Championship was so much different. For starters it was huge, and we had very limited ways to communicate with each other. However, it was a ton of fun. As we gained confidence in our team, we began to talk and strategize with others.“My favorite memory has to be when after we left the stadium one day, we were playing the \”quiet game\” and our mentor honked the horn to lose the game (on an empty road except for us). Or at the Airbnb when we hid Easter eggs for the team to find because we were away on Easter.” – Sadie, Pit Mgr
“States was a blast, but way more tiring and it showed me how much other teams prepare for these competitions.” – Liam
World Competition
When we realized we qualified for the World competition in Houston, and the cost therein, we kicked it into high gear as a community; team members, coaches, parents, grandparents, friends, mentors, everyone pitched in to do anything they could from retrieving cans to reaching out to any contacts they might have to sponsor our team.“We came to the realization that everything truly IS bigger in Texas.” – Jayden, Electrical Mgr.
“Houston was crazy and stressful, though the traveling was a whole lot of fun there were some very interesting and confusing times. The actual competition was amazing to watch, and I met some really great friends there.” – Sadie, Pit Mgr.
This summer’s “off” season
We’ve learned that another part of being on a robotics team is that there really isn’t an off season, just a slightly less hectic season. This summer, we volunteered at the National Cherry Festival every morning of the fest, resetting chairs and picking up garbage for their concert venue in the Traverse City Open Space. This was both a great regrouping of the team, and an opportunity to start working on our next season of plans and fundraising.
And that brings us to now…
As we come to the close of the summer, we have been ruminating on our first anniversary as a team. We’re amazed at how far we have come and blown away by the community support that has been extended to the team. When the team was asked to each pick 5 words that describe their first year, the feedback was:“Amazing, Empowering, Fun, Exhausting, Stressful.”
“Accomplished, unforgettable, growth, fun, challenging”
