TA News

Last Saturday at 5:30 a.m. twenty of team 4886’s roboteurs and their intrepid parents departed Thetford Academy for the 2+ hour trip to frigid Conway, NH. All seven of TA’s robots had already qualified for “States,” but there were some freshly-refurbished machines that needed to see a day of hard knocks to be fully prepared for the State Championship in two weeks.  

Of course there were failures and things needing fixing, but of those were mostly found and addressed during the qualification rounds – such that all machines were in fine form for the elimination series. And a fine form it was: the final match of the tournament was all blue – with two TA teams against two more TA teams. Of course, that meant that TA both won and lost the tournament. 

But my (coach Leif’s) proudest moment of the day was when I was handed a copy of a note written by the head referee to the meet’s judges. The note described how our 4886S (the highest-ranked team in the league) was strategizing with a rookie team from another school. They were discussing the (limited) abilities of the novice’s robot – and together they formed a game strategy that best used both machines. The note described how that discussion was respectful and encouraging – not at all demeaning or stifling.

And after the meet, the judges also approached our roboteurs to share how impressed they were with all of 4886. I drove home wearing a smile.

Conway set the stage for the State Championship tournament – to be held at Manchester (NH) Community College on Feb 14th. That’s where Vermont and New Hampshire’s five spots at the World Championship will be earned. TA has a history of doing very well at States and sending multiple robots to Worlds, and hopes are high again this season. The competition is sure to be spirited, with the highest-stakes action beginning around 2 p.m. As always, it’s free and open to spectators.  

Photo: TA teams 4886A and 4886C setting their robots up just before a match.