GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — "My heart was going crazy. It was the farthest our team had ever made it," said Caiden Nemecek, drive coach for That One Team, a team made up of high schoolers from several West Michigan counties based in Grand Rapids as he looked back on their experience at this year's state championship. "Just being in that position, it was so much fun hearing the stands. I think it was about maybe 5000 people that were attending that event."
When it comes to high school and middle school sports, it has become apparent that robotics has become loud and clear in showing that Michigan is leading the charge.
"We actually lead the country with 516 teams," said Nicki Boncyk, a member of FIRST Robotics Group, the sports governing body, and mentor for the Holland Christian robotics team. "California hasn't even made it to 300, and Texas hasn't made it to 200."
Boncyk said that the popularity of robotics stems from Michigan's manufacturing heritage, with many companies investing and sponsoring teams, along with thousands of dollars available to schools in grants to help build teams.
Every season will begin with FIRST Robotics announcing the year's challenge. For this current 2023-2024 season, the challenge is called "Crescendo," and is a game where teams use their robots to pick up and throw rings to score points.
After the announcement of the challenge, teams then design, build, and program their robot to fit the challenge best.
"A lot of the robots look very different from each other. Every team's coach comes up with some very original ideas," said Caleb Burnaby, team captain for That One Team. "Being able to interact with the teams on the field, and compete with them is great."
An added bonus to "Crescendo" is that teams are put into alliances with other teams, they then have to strategize and work together to beat out the competition.
"It doesn't feel like you're meeting with our competitors. It feels like you're just meeting with other teams that have tried really hard and gone through a lot of what you've gone through," said Noah Goodfellow, That One Team's software lead.
160 teams competed in this year’s state championship, as 607 from around the world are currently attending the world championship in Houston with 92 teams from Michigan, including That One Team and several others from West Michigan.
Boncyk said there are 22 teams in Kent County alone, followed by 9 in Ottawa County, and 9 in Muskegon County.
Trophies are also not the only thing that draw students. Boncyk explained that the students operate and lead their own teams, learning skills that can directly translate to careers ranging from engineering, programing, design and even marketing.
"It's been a really neat experience, just finding a group of people that I can explore my interest in STEM and programming, and just have a group of friends that are willing to work along with me with that," said Emma Bustraan, outreach and services coordinator for That One Team.
The 2024 FIRST Robotics World Championship in Houston will end on April 20.
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