On Saturday, November 9, Team Sprocket hosted the 2024 FLL game "Submerged" at Diamond Bar High School, where 25 amazing teams competed. The competition roles were mostly filled by students on the team. Roles such as judge, emcee, queuers, etc., were all filled by students on the team! Additionally, we received parent help and outside volunteer support. We are very thankful for everyone who came out to support Team Sprocket throughout the tournament process. This event serves as an introduction to competitions and outreaches that Team Sprocket hosts for some of our new members. Team Sprocket is extremely eager to see how the new members will grow over the next few months.

Now, let's take a look at what our members have to say about this event.

Luke, a junior manufacturing member who was a pit administrator (someone who makes sure teams are on track and guides them to the field), stated, "[It was] a great experience for the youth to learn and step into the field of robotics, seeing them learn the mechanics of robotics in such a short time and seeing them make critical changes to their robots between each round of the competition was cool." He overall thought the event was fun and not as stressful due to everyone completing their tasks.

Brian Gho, our CADD lead and the lead judge queuer for the event, said, "FLL is an amazing event where we, as the hosting members, inspired not just the kids but also the adults and made connections with adult engineers that can set an inspiration for robotics that can eventually bring them towards higher-level robotics. It was a perfect introduction to FIRST Robotics and is very welcoming, introducing the competition aspects of robotics while being approachable by giving kids an introduction to robotics with Legos, a toy they love and are familiar with." He also believed his job, while tiring, was a great opportunity to bond with participants, judges, and other volunteers.

Lastly, Maren, a new CADD member and a pit runner for the event, stated, "It was actually really fun because it was great to work with new people on the team who are not just on your subteam, and the food was really good. The cotton candy machine was fun; I would do it again." Maren was able to make lots of new connections due to the event!

Again, thank you all for putting in the time and effort into this event. It was not an easy task. Special shoutout to Jolene and Sarena for spearheading our first 2024-2025 FLL competition!