From April 24 to April 27, the Girls of Steel attended the 2019 World Championship in Detroit, after qualifying at the Greater Pittsburgh Regional with a wild card awarded to us as captains of the finalist alliance. The great news is that both of our alliance partners, FRC 4150 FRobotics and FRC 1787 Flying Circuits received wild cards for championships, too! Below is a photo taken during our pre-championship practice on April 14th.
On the 24th we boarded the bus at 5:30 am and drove to Detroit, Michigan, where the FIRST Championship would be held at the Cobo Center. Dressed in plaids from previous years, we entered the center for load-in, practice matches, and exploring the sheer volume of the championship. Girls had the opportunity to explore the Innovation Faire, FIRST store, and the pits of all levels of FIRST, as well as the FIRST conferences.
After our pit crew took the majority of the day to clean up the robot and add new attachments, our drive team had the opportunity to practice their defense and climbing during our afternoon practice match on the Carson field. We then traveled back to our hotel to prepare ourselves for the first day of qualifying matches on Thursday.
On Thursday, we made our way to the Cobo Center for the first round of qualifying matches on Carson with 67 other amazing teams. Girls once again had the opportunity to attend all of the same events as before, but the matches and excitement of the teams in the FRC area took center stage. While the results of our 4 matches were not what we would have liked, we played excellent defense, leaving an impression on the other teams. We were also able to climb to either the third or second level in most of our matches. While we weren’t competing, our girls had a great time talking to judges, and getting a visit from FIRST alum Emma Dumont, an actress on FOX’s The Gifted. After the chaos of the first qualifying day was over, some of us had the opportunity to attend the FIRST Welcome Party at Ford Field.
On Friday morning some of us went out for a “team” breakfast at a local diner called Woodward Coney Island, making it to the Cobo center in time for the start of the qualification matches. We played in 6 matches on Friday, and the team was hard at work on the robot between matches or cheering during the matches. Girls of Steel did not have the best ranking at the end of the day, but hope was still high. Drive team and scouters were focused on doing the absolute best for the team. All the girls were looking forward to RoboProm where they got to dance and meet new people from different parts of the world.
Friday afternoon we had the amazing opportunity to meet Michigan Congresswomen Dingell and Stevens when they toured the Carson pits.
All the girls were looking forward to RoboProm on Friday night where they got to dance and meet new people from different parts of the world.
On Saturday, our final full day in Detroit, everyone got up even earlier and headed over to the Cobo Center where the morning started with awards and alliance selection. Unfortunately Girls of Steel did not win any awards and did not get picked for an alliance, but the fun was not over. Below check out one of the fun photos from the Bosch (one of our awesome sponsors) photo booth
Girls of Steel stayed and got to watch the semifinals and the ultimate finals and closing ceremonies at Ford Field. Congratulations to all who attended 2019 FIRST World Championship in Detroit!