BHS Robotics Team Wins Boston, Urgently Needs Help Getting to International Competition

On Saturday, April 9, at about 4 p.m., two alliances made up of three teams controlling three large robots each, faced off against one another on a 27-foot by 54-foot field. The No. 1 seed alliance was challenging the No. 2 seed alliance in front of a cheering crowd of over 6,000 people made up of students, mentors, family members and the general public. 

This was the last match of the three day FIRST Robotics Regional that was held at Agganis Arena at Boston University. At the end of that match, the No. 1 seed, Team 88 from Bridgewater, Mass., along with its alliance partners: Team 78 from Newport County, RI, and Connecticut’s Team 1099 from Brookfield, won the match making them the Champion Alliance for the Boston Regional.  All three teams are now eligible to go and compete at the International Championship in St. Louis, Mo.    

Team 1099 played against a field of over 1,000 students spread out over 53 participating teams that hailed from all six New England states, as well as New York and Pennsylvania. Additionally, there were two international teams, one from Canada and one from Turkey.

For the first day and a half, each team was paired randomly with two additional teams in each of 10 rounds of matches. Teams accumulated their points and at the end of the 10 rounds, the eight top scoring teams were able to select their alliance partners. Team 1099 was part of the top seed alliance.

Team 1099 would like to go to the next level, but they are facing their biggest obstacle: they need a financial commitment of over $35,000 to cover the $5,000 registration fee as well as the travel fees by this Tuesday, April 12, or they will not be able to go.

The FIRST Championship is being held Thursday, April 28, through Saturday, April 30.  There will be over 300 FRC teams from almost every state in the US, plus other countries such as: Australia, Canada, Israel and Mexico, to name a few.

Additionally, Robert Zapor, one of the three co-advisors of FIRST Robotics Team 1099, won the esteemed Woodie Flowers Mentor Award for the Boston Regional based on an essay that was submitted by Team 1099’s students.  Mr. Zapor is now eligible to compete for the international Woodie Flowers 2011 Award in St. Louis.

FIRST Team 1099 has many sponsors, including its primary sponsors for the regular season: PTC, Goodrich and J.C. Penny. At this point the team is looking for major sponsors and individual donors to help them meet the deadline in order to be able to go to the Championship. 

For more information, become a sponsor and/or make a donation please contact: Susan Troupe, Co-Advisor for FRC Team 1099, Brookfield HS, 45 Long Meadow Hill Road, Brookfield, CT 06804; phone number 203-775-7725 ext. 7746; fax 203-775-7757; or email at troupes@brookfieldps.org.

To learn more about Team 1099, visit their website. Follow these links for more about FIRST Robotics and its four divisions, the Boston Regional and International Championship in St. Louis, Mo.