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Holly Robotic Team members wor...

HOLLY, Michigan – It sounded just like any other championship basketball game from outside of the gymnasium doors, but inside it was quite a different story. With brightly painted faces and pom poms thrust high into the air, students from 19 Oakland County high schools cheered as they watched their classmates put their respective “robogladiators” to the test, going head to head in a game called “Bot Basketball.”

On Saturday, the Holly High School Robotics Team and 18 other teams from Oakland County took part in the last competition of the year, the Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association Championship – a full contact game of basketball played with 120- pound robogladiators.

OCCRA promotes excitement for technical and academic disciplines such as design, engineering, physics and electronics. The competition recognizes and encourages all students who sacrifice all their free time to this area of study.

Holly High School robotic students combine with students from Brandon High School to make up Team 43 – a team known for its competitive spirit, outstanding sportsmanship conduct, and hard-working members.

An after school activity at Holly High School, students design and build their own robot to compete against other robots built by other OCCRA teams. During the season, students meet at least three times per week after school, staying most days until after 5 p.m.

Each year, OCCRA officials design a new game for competitions. Students consider the tasks their robots must achieve in the game and design and build their robots accordingly.

During the 2 and a half minute “Bot Basketball” game, students maneuver their robots in an attempt to put the mini basketball through the hoop to score points while the opposing team tries to stop them.

“As always, the team has had a really good season,” team mentor Jonathan Andrew said during Saturday’s competition. “I’m very proud of them – it’s a big commitment for the kids to make, and they’ve done a great job.”