Local team shines at Lego League nationals

KNYSNA NEWS - A newly formed robotics team from the Garden Route, which includes Knysna and Sedgefield, has achieved an impressive result at the First Lego League (FLL) Challenge National Championships, securing third place overall in their very first year of competition.

The nationals were held over 5 and 6 December at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town and featured 32 teams, including teams from Zimbabwe.

Only two teams qualified for international competitions, with one advancing to the USA and the other to Australia, highlighting the exceptionally high standard of the event.

This year marked the first time the national competition was split into two events, hosted in Johannesburg and Cape Town, due to the growing number of teams.

Knot Knys Hippocampy qualified for nationals after competing at the regional round held at Glenwood House in George on 18 October. Following qualification, the team had just six weeks to prepare for nationals - an impressive feat for a team that only began robotics in August.

Who is Knot Knys Hippocampy?
The team's name reflects their identity and roots: Knot represents Scouts, Knys stands for Knysna, and Hippocampy refers to the Knysna and Sedgefield seahorses.

Team members come from the 1st Sedgefield Scouts and 1st Knysna Cubs, as well as siblings. Despite being based in two different towns, they worked tirelessly through late nights, online meetings, and frequent travel to train together.

Competition results and core values success
This year's theme, "Unearthed", focused on archaeology. The competition included four components: the robot game, innovation project, robot design presentation, and core values.

The team placed fifth in the robot game with a top score of 310 points, eighth for their innovation project on marine archaeology, and fourth for robot design.

Most notably, they won first place for core values, recognising exceptional teamwork, inclusion, problem-solving, and sportsmanship.

Support behind the success
The team's journey was made possible through the support of the Inkcubeko Youth and Science Centre, whose staff and volunteers continue to play a vital role in expanding access to robotics education.

"None of this would have been possible without the Inkcubeko Youth and Science centre. They supported 16 schools for regionals and four for nationals.

Three of the four teams won trophies for different awards," said Sian Pearson, Knot Knys Hippocampy team coach. She praised the centre for its meaningful and uplifting support and partnership.

Vanessa Maitland (left), a maritime archaeologist from Sedgefield, gives the team a few pointers on their project for the First Lego League Challenge.

ABOVE: The Knot Knys Hippocampy's project on display.

The Inkcubeko Robotics team from George.

A round of applause for the Knot Knys Hippocampy for obtaining overall third place at the nationals of the First Lego League Challenge. From left are Vanessa Maitland, Astrid Pearson, Arya Pearson, Rae Dicks, Serena Dicks, Alice Pearson and Sian Pearson (team coach).