On March 22, almost 30 people walked into Saint Ignatius College Prep sporting shirts and hoodies branded with 4904 Bot Provoking, Nueva’s Robotics team name.
The robotics team made their way to eliminations, or playoffs, at the First Robotics San Francisco Regionals this year for the first time since 2018. During eliminations, teams play in alliances consisting of three teams each, with one alliance captain. With eight alliances total, captains of the alliances are generally the teams that placed high during qualifications, or scored the most points during their matches. While not an alliance captain, 4904 got picked for Alliance 7.
“It really is just an exciting moment to hear your team number called,” said Michelle Grau, MS and US Technology, Innovation Design and Engineering Coach, as well as the mentor for the robotics team. “Even when you’re pretty sure you’re not going to be picked, it’s hard to not hold out a tiny bit of hope anyway.”
Alliance 7, the team 4904 was playing for, got eliminated in Round 2 of the playoffs, but being chosen to play for an Alliance was a huge milestone for the team.
While 4904 did not advance to the World Championships, they racked up enough points to get invited to an off-season event–the Northern California Invitational, hosted at Richmond High School. The Norcal Invitational is hosted every year for teams that scored high during Regionals but not high enough to qualify for World Championships, and this is the first time 4904 has been invited to a competition like this.
The drive was long for many on the team, but the result was worth it–the team ranked 16th in qualifications, and got chosen as a backup robot for Alliance 5. This meant that they wouldn’t get to play in the qualifications–in theory.
But when the team captain, the 5104 BreakerBots, broke down after Round Two, 4904 had the chance to play one round in their stead. The team chose to showcase their defensive skills, keeping robots from the other alliance from scoring points.
Alliance 5 lost during Round Five by 61 points, but the experience was far from defeat for 4904. Being invited to the NorCal Invitational is a monumental achievement for the team, and shows that they’re already ready for next year’s competition.
