The Huntsville High School (HHS) robotics team will represent the community at the upcoming World Championships.
HHS Hoya Robotics will compete in the first 2025 World Championships in Houston, Texas, from April 16 to 19.
Jocelyn Avdeeff, team captain, says they have been competing over the past 13 years and have gone from being a rookie team to the top 10 in Canada. She adds this is the first time they are competing at a world level.
“Over the years, we’ve just improved, and now this chance has arisen,” says Avdeeff.
Allison Munroe, design lead of the team, says it is a big event for students as they get to see what other teams are doing internationally, adding there are about 600 teams in the event.
“About 30 teams are coming from Canada, but there are hundreds of teams from all around the world,” says Munroe.
Avdeeff says the team was a semi-finalist at the Ontario provincial championships in early April, which gave them the necessary ranking points to qualify for the World Championships.
“We’re really nervous, but we hope we do well. We think we’ll probably finish in the top three in our division,” adds. Avdeeff.
Munroe says she has learned a lot of robotics and acquired valuable skills.
“Technical stuff, such as how to design and build things, but also just more soft skills such as speaking and managing finances,” says Munroe. “Everything that I’ve learned I think is really valuable and will help me go off into life.”
Avdeeff says right now, they are organizing fundraisers for the team as the cost of going to the World Championships is around $30,000.
“We’re going out to different companies and asking them to donate because we’re a small-town team and it’s a non-profit,” says Avdeeff. “We’re also raising money through our schools.”
According to Avdeeff, they are doing a silent auction that runs until April 12, which can be found on their website.
For more information or to support the HHS Hoya Robotics team, click here.
