Hope Chapel Academy Robotics Team Wins National Competition

HERMOSA BEACH, CA - A robotics team from Hope Chapel Academy in Hermosa Beach was one of four winners at the annual FIRST Championship in St. Louis this weekend.

The Beach Bots was one of four winners to win to coveted For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition in front of a 40,000-plus crowd Saturday.

FIRST Robotics Competition combines sports excitement with the rigors of science and technology, according to organizers. The students had to fundraise, build and program robots to perform tasks against competitors.

For this year's competition, students formed alliances to beat their competition. The winning alliance includes:

• Team 330, The Beach Bots, Hermosa Beach, CA;
• Team 2481, Roboteers, Tremont, IL;
• Team 120, Cleveland's Team, Cleveland, OH; and
• Team 1086, Blue Cheese, Glen Allen, VA of the Carver Subdivision.

Founded in 1989, the Manchester, N.H.-based nonprofit hopes to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people.

--Photo courtesy of FIRST