[ad_1]

The rookie robotics team from Catholic Central High School achieved second place in the First Robotics competition at The University of Waterloo on Saturday. 

According to the competition’s website, students design and build their own robots to tackle a different annual challenge.

Coach and lead mentor Diano Bontorin says the Catholic Central team did such a good job — especially with this being their very first event ever. 

“It’s pretty huge,” Bontorin said. 

“We became fan favourites pretty quickly because of being such a small school and our small budget — a lot of people were cheering for us, and it was a pretty big deal.”

The competition in Waterloo was the first for the Catholic Central robotics club. (CCHcomets/Twitter)

‘A very diverse group’

He said the students make up a very special team.

“We have a very diverse group. There’s three different languages spoken in our team. And some kids just came to Canada no more than four months ago,” he said. 

“They just worked together so well. And you know, in the whole spirit of teamwork, nobody was getting mad at one another and always a smile on their faces. They just really enjoyed being at the event.”

Help from a donor

The team almost didn’t make it to Waterloo, because of a lack of funds. But Bontorin explained an anonymous donor stepped up in mid-March and gave the team $3,000 to help get to the competition.

“That changed everything for us.”

Bontorin said he’s so impressed by how the team presented themselves, and how they were able to work together.

“It was really good to see them interact and perform at such a high level,” he said.

Next, the team will compete in a regional competition at the St. Denis Centre this coming weekend. 

[ad_2]

Source link