Bridgeport

CT hosts VEX Robotics regional championship for first time in decades

Hundreds of students representing schools from Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts competed at Bridgeport’s Total Mortgage Arena for the largest VEX Robotics event ever held in New England.

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Hundreds of students representing schools from Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts competed at Bridgeport’s Total Mortgage Arena for the largest VEX Robotics event ever held in New England.

This year’s VEX Robotics Southern New England Championship marked the first regional championship held in Connecticut in over a decade.

“Regionals used to be just in a middle school at a school in Massachusetts, which was still a good event, but it was never to the hype or size that this is,” Masuk High School senior Emma Cusa said.

“It’s really cool that it’s local this time because before we had to go all the way up to Massachusetts," Masuk's Liam Kelly said.

This year, 800 students representing 100 different teams all battled at Bridgeport's Total Mortgage Arena for the VEX Robotics Southern New England Championships.

“We’ve put in so much time and effort to make sure that this robot that we’ve prepared for months can be at its best shape,” Middletown senior Heidi Mallett said.

Each team came to Bridgeport with their own unique robot, looking to score as many points as possible for a chance to qualify for the world championships held in Dallas at the end of April.

“It’s a lot of hard work. There’s so many different aspects that go into making a robot and making it to a competition like this and actually competing at a high level,” Middletown senior Aaryan Gautan said.

“Every year, it’s a completely new challenge and you have to start from scratch, you have to brainstorm ideas, you have to come up with new solutions to each game problem,” Middletown senior Travis Newman said.

Each May, the new challenge is revealed following world championships, giving students the entire following school year to design, build and tweak the robot for the upcoming season.

“It’s definitely tough. You gotta keep a good attitude or else you’re going to burn out,” Masuk's John Iacono said.

The skills go far beyond just math or science.

“We’re a very big team, and we need to communicate,” Masuk's Lucas Cartagena said.

“VEX in itself has taught me so much about working with other people," Cusa said.

It’s an opportunity to work collaboratively towards a common goal, while enjoying the process.

“I’ve been doing robotics since fourth grade, and it’s just been the biggest part of my life and it’s given me so many opportunities, so many lifelong friends,” Newman said.

“If you don’t have fun with the work you do, there’s no point in doing it because you don’t want to spend your life doing something you don’t enjoy and we all I think say we enjoy this and we definitely have fun most of the time. When we win,” Middletown senior Simon Hahn said.

Nineteen of the 100 teams competing in Bridgeport were able to qualify for the VEX Robotics World Championships.

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