Next Stop, Houston: Stampede and Rodeo are Going to Worlds!

The North Star Regional this past weekend was certainly a memorable one for our program.

If you were following the robot game, you know both of our teams put up a tough fight. Stampede battled through qualifications and earned a spot in the playoffs as part of the 8th Alliance, but after two hard-fought matches, we were knocked out of the bracket. Rodeo also had a strong showing, getting picked for the 3rd Alliance. They made a great push deep into the playoffs, but ultimately fell just short and finished in 3rd place overall.

Sitting in the stands after both robots were officially out, we were feeling pretty disappointed. It’s always tough when your playoff run comes to an end. With everyone tired from a long weekend, we pretty much accepted that our season was over and were just waiting for the event to wrap up so we could head home.

But just when we thought we were done, the awards ceremony started.

We were clapping for the other teams when it came time to announce the FIRST Impact Award. This is one of the most prestigious awards in FRC, recognizing a team's culture, community outreach, and efforts to spread STEM off the field. As the judges started reading the description for the winner, it started to sound really familiar.

And then, they called Stampede.

It was a massive surprise for all of us. Going from the disappointment of our playoff exits to winning such a major award was an incredible turnaround. And the best part of the whole situation? Winning the Impact Award secures an automatic ticket to the FIRST Championship for the entire program.

Because of this win, both Stampede and Rodeo are officially heading to Worlds in Houston!

We are incredibly grateful for this opportunity. Thank you to our mentors for their guidance, our sponsors for making our program possible, and our parents for their constant support. We couldn't do this without our village behind us.

We’ve got a lot of work to do and travel plans to figure out over the next few weeks, but we are ready for it.

Houston, here we come!