Chatham Robotics Team Wins Big At Competition, Heads To State Qualifier 

CHATHAM, NJ — The Chatham Cougars and //Cougars Robotics teams both received recognition at the recent FIRST Tech Challenge tournament and will be competing this weekend to qualify for the upcoming state championships.

The tournament was hosted at Chatham High School on Saturday, Jan. 21, where twenty-four robotics teams from around New Jersey competed. It was the first event at Chatham High School to draw a crowd since February 2020. The Chatham Cougars finished third and won the Innovate Award, while the //Cougars won the Design Award.

According to officials, both teams are ranked in the Top 10 of the Upper Center New Jersey League, which has 45 teams.

At the end of the matches, the //Cougars FTC Team 11248 had a perfect day, winning all five of their matches. Their sister team, the Chatham Cougars, FTC team 9853, won four of their five matches.

When the judges announced the awards at the end of the day, both Chatham teams were recognized for their efforts. The //Cougars had the highest match by an alliance partner for the day.

Chatham High School's robotics teams have been competing since November and have participated in four competitions this season.

The program, which was founded in 2016, was reduced to one team during the 2017 competition season due to Covid-19, but they are back this year with two strong teams making their mark in their league, school officials said.

Both teams will now compete for a spot in the State Championship, which will be held in two weeks at Delbarton High School.

The Chatham Robotics team has previously advanced to the World Championship twice and was also a Top Ten Global Finalist in the FTC Innovation Challenge, a virtual STEM competition developed during hybrid/virtual learning.