Ferradermis is headed to Houston for the FIRST Championships!
Wednesday morning, as part of FIRST’s new qualification protocols for Champs, the Whitewater High School FIRST Robotics Competition Team Ferradermis received an invitation to compete in Houston based on their rankings in the regional pool! Ferradermis performed very well on and off the field at the Lake Superior Regional two weeks ago, winning the event and the Team Sustainability Award, and was ranked #78 in the world out of the 754 teams that had competed in the first two weeks of global regional events. Some of those 754 teams received automatic bids at their event or were pre-qualified from last year, but all teams were ranked based on points earned at their event(s). Points were based on a team’s ranking after qualification rounds, their position in the alliance selections, their alliance’s performance in the playoffs, and team awards won. As of Wednesday, Ferradermis was the 25th highest ranked team in the world in the pool without an automatic bid, and Wednesday morning, FIRST extended invitations to 26 teams from that pool.
108 FRC teams from around the world have now secured a spot at FIRST Championships. With four more weeks of competitions, that number will eventually grow to 600 (out of 3,715 teams competing globally this year), and Ferradermis can’t wait to be part of that excitement!
Ferradermis will compete in two additional regional events before the trip to Houston. The public is invited to attend the Phantom Lakes Regional at Mukwonago High School on March 28 or 29 or the Wisconsin Regional at State Fair Park in West Allis on April 5 or 6. Both events are free and open to the public, and they make great fun family entertainment!
Ferradermis will now go into fundraising mode for the Houston trip, with a need to raise an additional $30,000 to take 30+ people to Houston for 6 days. If you would like to show your financial support to the team, donations can be made online at https://www.ferradermis.org/, or checks made out to WHS can be mailed in care of Laura Masbruch to Whitewater High School, 534 South Elizabeth Street, Whitewater, WI 53190.
Article and Photo Submitted by Laura Masbruch
Whitewater High School Robotics Advisor
lmasbruch@wwusd.org
