Students on the Woodhaven Goon Squad will be at the World Robotics Championships for the second year in a row. The Goon Squad qualified for this event after having several high-place finishes throughout their season. Senior Captain Lorenzo Gaglio said, “Last year was such a fun experience with new people to meet and things to see around the world. This time I am more excited to experience it again for one last time and I am more confident we will perform well.”

Worlds will be held April 17-20 in Houston, Texas where the Goon Squad will use their skills to take on teams from across the nation and play a game called Crescendo.

The Goon Squad had six weeks to create a robot called Gordon Ramsey. During the whole building process, the students split into many different teams after the first design to make building the robot quicker and more efficient. 

The first team is called the programming team. There are three groups in this team: the shooter, intake, and climber. The shooter’s job is to make sure the robot can and is programmed to shoot a ring. For the intake job, the robot needs to be able to pick up the rings on the floor to score points. The climber makes sure the robot can lift itself onto a chain. 

The Goon Squad placed 3rd out of 160 teams at the state meet.  After their performance, they were awarded the FIRST Impact award which shows how the Goon Squad is active in helping their community. 

Freshman Sam Manning said, “In the 14 years of The Goon Squad, this is the first time we have won at States. It is almost surreal. The impact presenting team has worked hard to make sure this team’s legacy that has been built over these past years is represented in the way it deserves. Every hour put into this team was awarded this past weekend and we are so grateful it has been recognized. On behalf of the presentation team, we are over the moon excited about this opportunity.”

Woodhaven Robotics will compete for the Impact Award Hall of Fame at the World Championship. This shows how the Goon Squad models their team by the mission of FIRST Robotics and how they are very involved in their community.

The Goon Squad will attend Worlds  April 17-20, and will compete against the best teams in the world. Scoring highly throughout the season with 1st place finishes in meets and 3rd place at states gives high hopes for the World Championship.