Drone soccer pilots bob, weave and score at world championships

BY JOHN RENFROW JRENFROW@COLORADOCOMMUNITUYMEDIA.C

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 remote-controlled, electric version of Quidditch.

An increasingly popular sport, it’s called drone soccer. Students representing Westminster High School traveled for an international battle of aerospace skills 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 SkyBlazers from Cherry Creek — who nished second nationally in 2023. ey make up the U.S. National Team. e hybrid team of Coloradans nished third in 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.’” ere are three three-minute sets, and winning two out of three seals the victory. Between sets, there is a three-to- ve-minute period for modifying and repairing any potential damage.

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 drones. ey must build, repair, and maintain them.

“ ey’re kind of like a For- mula 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 or preparing for operations.” e sport is just now gaining traction outside of South Korea, Sanders said, where it’s been popular since 2015. But slowly, other countries are coming along. e U.S. National Team is only in its rst competitive year on the international stage, and WHS has been growing its program for three years.

“ e goal is to build aerospace programs and career pathways using this fun sport as an introduction program,” Sanders said.

Lottie Wilson, the career and technical education advisor at WHS, called it the gami cation of aerospace education. “ ey’re building them. ey’re programming them. ey’re engineering them. ey’re doing it all,” Wilson said. “It’s denitely getting kids hooked into aerospace education through gami cation.”

It’s been a surreal experience for the students, who can polish their skills and meet new people in a fun, brand new environment that’s loved drone soccer for years.

“I hope I get to keep doing this. It’s really fun,” said senior Luis Lechuga, who is attending Metropolitan State University in the fall to study mechanical engineering. “I’m interested in doing aerospace engineering [also]. I never expected to go to South Korea, I just wanted to get involved in ying drones.”

Lechuga and the other seniors in Incheon opted to miss their own graduation to make the trip. Being able to share this experience with like-minded students from all over the world has opened new ways of thinking about aviation and aerospace science, Tran said, and they’ve picked up some tricks from the Korean players along the way.

“I’m able to learn how to communicate, especially with a language barrier. We’re still able to communicate and share ideas with each other, and basically improve together,” Tran said.

“It’s a really good and bene cial way to network. I’ve been able to befriend them through this shared passion, and so it’s just really cool.”

Since the program’s incep- tion at WHS, interest has been through the roof, Robbie Ferguson said. Ferguson is the aerospace teacher and drone soccer coach at WHS.

“My students ask to come to practice. ey ask for extra practices all the time,” Ferguson said. “ ey really enjoy being a part of the team and everything that comes with it.” e Pumas didn’t waste any time. Orchard Park nished rst among middle school programs in nationals this past season, and nished fourth overall, beating even the WHS team. Recently, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis visited Orchard Park for a visit and lesson in aerospace acrobatics. e future of drone soccer is bright, particularly along the Front Range. Experienced middle school students will be ready to step in and contribute right away at the high school level. e

Much of the program is graduating this year, Ferguson said, but fortunately, the middle school interest is already signi cant and continues to grow. Orchard Park Academy in Westminster is in the rst year of its drone soccer program.