BLACKSBURG, Va. – Blacksburg High School will host a regional robotics competition Saturday, bringing together 30 teams from Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., to compete in the school’s gymnasium.
The event, which welcomes more than 500 expected attendees, is free and open to the public. Welcome ceremonies begin at 9:30 a.m. and run through 5 p.m. A concession stand will be available on site.
Months of work on the line
Copperhead Robotics, representing Montgomery County, will field a team of more than 40 members who have spent months designing, building and testing their robot with minimal adult assistance.
For Brennen Dovie, a Blacksburg High senior and the team’s Outreach and Awards Director, the road to competition day is a balancing act.
“It’s really stressful, but also really exciting,” Dovie said. “It takes a lot of communication and coordination within our team to make sure our robot gets done on time.”
Competing and cooperating
The spirit of the competition extends beyond winning. Reece Masri, a Christiansburg High senior and team captain, said the camaraderie between rival teams is part of what makes the event special.
“I have friends from other teams and a lot of times I’m texting them like, hey, how did y’all do this?” Masri said. “It’s very, very fun because you are competing, but you’re also cooperating — figuring out how can we do this, but how can we beat the other team at it as well.”
Inspiring the next generation
For many on the Blacksburg team, reaching young students is just as important as the competition itself. Masri noted the event’s significance to the region.
“We’re the really only event in the Southwest Virginia area,” he said. “Being able to host, it allows us to spread our message and our impact into the area — to invite even FLL teams, some little kids, to come see what they can do in high school.”
Dovie said guiding younger students through the event is his favorite part of the weekend.
“Elementary school robotics with little Lego robots — that’s my favorite part because we lead tours for them around the venue and get to show them the pits and what we do as high school robotic students,” Dovie said. “They love it. Getting them excited and engaging them in STEM is my favorite thing.”
That pipeline from young fan to competitor is already playing out on the Blacksburg team itself. Junior Serena Savla, co-design lead, said a community outreach event sparked her interest in robotics nearly a decade ago.
“I’ve actually been a part of robotics since I was like, maybe five years old,” Savla said. “Whoever was my age back when I was five went to some outreach and they showed us a bunch of different cool things, and I got so interested in that.”
Now, Savla sees that same sense of connection reflected across every competition she attends.
“Building robots is like a very uniting interest at the competitions,” she said. “It’s really great getting to see that there are so many people like me who enjoy the same things as me.”
The Blacksburg High School robotics competition begins Saturday, March 28, at 9:30 a.m. Admission is free.