One week ago–the day after the 7th graders returned from Yosemite–Stratford’s FLL Robotics Team A and B traveled to San Ramon in the northeastern part of the Bay Area to represent our school in the First Lego League Robotics Competition at Danton-Easton High school. Our team names were Mecha Lions A and Mecha Lions B. There, our team marked the first time in history that Stratford Preparatory 7th Grade participated in the First Lego League Robotics Challenge Competition in the Qualifier Round.
Our two teams, for a first-time run, ran our field runs quite well. However, our organization of work was not perfect, and lack of communication resulted in the loss of crucial points. Despite this, our best field run out of three rounds was 185 points out of 300 points. The robot accomplished tasks to gain these points. Out of these 3 rounds, we won 2 and lost 1, which was exceptional, considering other teams were experienced in this competition. We had prepared well for the event, and all our fine-tuned test robots were in competition tune, and the code was clean on field tests. This code was all saved in one robot used for the actual competition.
Most importantly, our team coach, Mr. Chu, guided us extremely well throughout the competition. He aided us when in need, and inspired and motivated us to perform the best we can.
Even more importantly, Mr. Chu received the BEST COACH AWARD during the awards ceremony in the competition. This is a trophy to be held by Stratford for a long time, as Mr. Chu truly guided us all the way till participating in the competition in an excellent, inspiring way.
In conclusion, the FLL Robotics Team A and B ranked in the top 8 out of 12 places in the FLL Qualifiers Round of 2025 in San Ramon, California. Only the top 3 teams advanced to the regional finals. Some lessons that our team has to learn are how to cooperate better, distribute work evenly, and most importantly: allow everyone to speak during the judge evaluations such as the innovation project. However, the participation is still an event Stratford will long remember, as this is not only the first time we have participated in the FLL robotics competition, but also it is a time when our own coach was awarded the BEST COACH AWARD, making this participation something very special. Hopefully, Stratford will be able to participate in further robotics competitions, like the FRC and the FTC. Now, we have experience in this, and we are ready to correct what we did wrong and perfect our work for the next time Stratford competes in a national robotics competition like the FLL.
