Regional competition held at Lincoln Event Centre

On November 10th, our team, The Breens Biscuits, along with four other teams, traveled to Lincoln to participate in the First Lego League competition. Our team consisted of 6 Year 7s, Krishanu, Jimmy, Sota, Zade, Louis & Hunter - though Hunter couldn’t make it. We departed from school at 8 o'clock in the morning, excited to showcase our skills and compete with some of the best teams in New Zealand. There were going to be a few practice rounds, and three competitions. Upon arrival at the Lincoln Event Center, we made our way to our designated table after some last-minute coding.

We then proceeded to the Fitzgerald room for an interview with the judges, who were impressed with our team and our website. We answered some follow-up questions and were pleased to have made a positive impression on them. After the interview, we began practicing for our first round, knowing that we had to ensure our robot performed at its best to have a shot at winning. As we practiced, the excitement grew, and we were eager to show off our skills. The atmosphere was intense; no one was mucking around, everyone was focused on coding their robots. There were teams from across the South Island preparing for the competition. We were all really nervous around this time; some of us got really angry with each other because of how stressed we were.

Finally, the moment arrived, and we stepped up to compete. In all three rounds, our robot performed exceptionally well, and even if it mucked up a bit, we were thrilled with the outcome. It was a moment of pride and joy for all of us, and we knew that we had performed our best, walking off with 160 points. We stepped up the prize giving, and to our absolute shock; we had won the Core Values trophy. It was actually crazy at the moment, and even looking back we still can’t believe it. We were the only team from Breens to win a trophy, which made the moment even more surreal. In short, the whole day was amazing.In retrospect, it was a day filled with challenges and triumphs. We had put in months of hard work and effort, and it had all paid off. The experience taught us the importance of teamwork, perseverance, and determination. It was a day that we will always remember. 

The Breens Biscuits