This year, Team 8380 was founded as a rookie team with 12 students and a teacher mentor. The time commitment and strain of a FIRST competition build season was a lot for the team. The team slowly dwindled down to 1 freshman student (Austin) and his mom by week 4 of the competition season.
Austin was determined to compete this season, so he chased every avenue he could to try to build a robot this season, including going all the way to the President of FIRST in Michigan. After clearing some logistical hurdles, Austin was paired on February 19th with the Livonia Warriors Robotics organization (approximately 10 minutes away) to help build his robot.
Team 8380’s first scheduled event was a week 1 event, scheduled to start on February 28th, so timing was very tight. The Livonia Warriors helped Austin build the kit chassis, then provided a prototype climber for the robot so that he could compete. This including missing the setup day of the competition and staying till 3:30 am at the shop to finish attaching the climber. The Warriors also provided a support crew of 6 students and 3 mentors to get him through the competition.
The competition started tough for Austin, with defensive penalties, learning the climber, and a battery disconnect. Starting with their 5th qualification match, things turned around, and Austin shined with 7 matches of penalty free defense and 7 climbs. Team 8380 ended qualifying as the highest rookie seed at the event.
Teams definitely noticed Austin’s stellar defensive. We found another team’s internal communication that said “Cheer for team 8380 in match 55. It’s one guy named Austin who started the robot in Feb 19th. It’s just him and a few kids+mentor on loan from Livonia”. Match 55 was especially important, as 8380 was partnered with teams 5436 (the Cyber Cats from Rochester) and 2834 (the Bionic Black Hawks from Bloomfield Hills, FIRST Hall of Fame member), and ended the match victorious with a triple robot climb with a balanced hanging bar.
Match 55 helped lead Team 5436 to select 1718 (The Fighting Pi from Armada) and Team 8380 as the 3 alliance. Austin’s story had gotten out, so before every match, the alliance’s fans would all chant “Austin, Austin!” before every playoff match. Austin’s superior defensive skills shined, as he held the quarterfinal alliance to 1 shot made in 2 matches. Superior defense from Austin, consistent scoring from teams 5436 and 1718, and triple climbs every match helped secure the victory at the FIM Macomb Community College District event.
At the end of the event, Team 8380 won the Rookie Inspiration Award, not for how the team inspired others, but for how one freshman named Austin inspired everybody at the event to continue spreading the FIRST message.
