Glacier Peak Highschool, March 14th
Persevering and overcoming through setback after setback, team 1294, Pack of Parts, was able to go from brainstorming and scribbling ideas on a whiteboard, to winning a district competition, how has Pack of Parts achieved this?
The 2026 FRC robotics competition kicked off on January 10th at 9 in the morning, gathered in the Boys & Girls Club, the team watched as the game was unveiled. An archeology inspired game where robots drive under or over obstacles to get balls and shoot them into a scoring hub and even climb a ladder. The first weeks were spent thinking and testing ideas, how would the robot collect balls, how would it shoot balls, should it go over the obstacles, or should it be compact enough to go under, it was a month before the first design was finished. The design team worked hard CADing out components of the robot, finding points of failure, making sure everything fit together seamlessly, 2 weeks later, the design was complete, and the mechanical team could start building the robot. Due to the complexity of the robot, it had to be built in submodules, teams would work on different components simultaneously, finally attaching everything at the end. Between back ordered parts, custom parts being fabricated, and mistakes while building, it took 2 months to construct and wire the robot, but there was one fatal flaw. Building had taken so long that there was barely any time for the programming team to code the robot. With just 3 hours, the programming team were able to get the robot moving but not shooting.
On Saturday March 14th, Pack of Parts participated in their first competition of the season, it was early in the morning, and the team was apprehensive because they had the first qualifying match. But as the time ticked down the robot was nowhere to be seen, it was incomplete and in pits, the first real game would be played without them. What was meant to be final touches ended up taking much longer than expected, so long that the robot was not able to be completed in time for the first game, meaning Pack of Parts was unable to participate in their first qualifying game, dropping them to the bottom of the leader board. With stress at an all-time high, pit crew were able to get the robot ready to participate, but even with that the team sat at the bottom of the leader board, without the ability to shoot the robot could not score points. Pack of Parts was forced to adopt a defensive strategy, relying on driver skill to block the opponents, and relying on teammates to score points for them. Each event has thirty teams, but only twenty-four will compete in the tournament, the other six are eliminated, Pack of Parts ended their first day in 26th place, with just a handful of qualifying matches left, Pack of Parts left Saturday with low hopes. Sunday began and the team was revitalized, too much work had been put in to get eliminated before the tournament started, and the driver team could feel the pressure, some games went well bringing Pack of Parts to 18th place, but luck seemed to be against them, a series of games again higher ranking opponents dropped Pack of Parts to 24th place, if they were chosen, they would be chosen last. As the alliance drafts started, the eight highest ranking teams started choosing who would join them, the order went from highest to lowest, then second round picks went from lowest to highest. First round picks went by, and Pack of Parts had not been requested to join an alliance. With one tournament spot left open, Pack of Parts had lost hope, higher ranked teams were left on the board, and the last alliance choosing was the best at the whole event, bracing to go home disappointed, the team went silent waiting for the decision to be made. Despite all previous misfortune, despite having a non-functional robot, despite not being highest ranked team left, the final and best alliance chose Pack of Parts to join them. The bleachers erupted in cheers. 3 months of work, to get to that tournament. and no matter the outcome, at that moment it was all worth it. But it was not done yet, with Pack of Parts on the best alliance at the comp, Alliance 1, joined by Stealth robotics, and Sparktronics, the end was within reach. Unlike qualifying, Pack of Parts dominated the tournament, winning three games straight, and making it to the finals without a single loss. Now in the home stretch, it was the finals, best 2 of 3, expecting to steam roll the opposing alliance, spirits were high; until, Stealth robotics suffered a critical failure, their launcher had broken leaving Alliance 1 unable to score. That was the first loss that Alliance 1 had suffered, but not all hope was lost, there were 15 minutes between rounds which allowed time for repairs, if Stealth could fix their launcher in time, Alliance 1 could still win. The time for round two of the finals had come, the tension in the crowd was palpable, no one knew if Stealth Robotics had fixed their robot. But as the game started, hope filled the hearts of Alliance 1 as Stealth Robotics hurled balls into the scoring hub, round two was over as quickly as it started, and Alliance 1 was back on top. It was time for the final game of the event, the score was 1 to 1, anyone’s game, the bleachers were filled with cheers from both sides. Both Alliances were neck and neck throughout the final match, but in the end, Alliance 1 won.
At no point during the season did winning a competition seem possible. The robot left for competition with barely any functionality, and with key components missing; and yet, we won. It was a brilliant and a painful experience working on the robot, many nights I would leave feeling hopeless, feeling like progress wasn’t being made fast enough, feeling like everything went wrong again and again; however, the joy from winning at Glacier Peak Highschool made all the struggle worth it in the end, it made me proud to persevere.
Zohair Kamal • Apr 3, 2026 at 12:40 PM
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