Drone soccer players from Westminster compete in South Korea

U.S. National Team shines on international stage

BY JOHN RENFROW JRENFROW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

In Incheon, South Korea, ying orbs whistle, buzz and clash in the air in an e ort to glide through hoops for points. If you’ve ever seen Harry Potter, it’s a lot like a remotecontrolled, electric version of Quidditch.

e increasingly popular sport is drone soccer. Students representing Westminster High School traveled for an international battle of aerospace skill in the FIDA World Drone Soccer Championships, which hosted more than a dozen international teams between May 17-20.

Four students from WHS paired up with four Sky-Blazers from Cherry Creek —who nished second nationally in 2023. ey make up the U.S. National Team. e hybrid team ofColoradans nished thirdin Incheon in what is essentially the World Cup of drone soccer.

Recently, the team hosted South Korean players for a friendly competition at the Colorado Convention Center. But when the championships kicked o in South Korea, the friendliness faded and things got real.

“As you’re preparing for the matches, it’s kind of friendly because everyone is trying to help each other out, especially if you don’t have the right supplies at the right time,” said Helen Tran, a WHS junior and keeper for the U.S. National Team. “But once you’re on that oor, and about to face them, it’s really competitive and it’s like ‘We’re on opposite sides right now. You’re my enemy.’”

Drone soccer is the only educational robotics competition that is also an internationally sanctioned team sport by the World Air Sports Federation.

Here’s how it works: two teams of ve players compete against one another at the same time. Each team has a keeper, a striker, and three defenders. e idea is to protect your own goal and y the striker into the other team’s hoop to score.

But students don’t just y the drones. ey must build, repair, and maintain them. ere are three three-minute sets, two out of three seals a victory. Between sets, there is a three-to- ve-minute period for modifying and repairing any potential damage.

“ ey’re kind of like a Formula 1 team working really well together,” Kyle Sanders, vice president of development for U.S. Drone Soccer, said. “It’s really the communication and teamwork that you see in professional aviation, working on airplanes

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