Teamwork propels robotics program to regional win, national championship bid
“It's about creating a culture that encourages buy-in from every single member of our team on every single decision.”
San Jose High School is a storied institution, producing a wealth of community leaders and athletic championship teams in its 161year history. But the school's latest success might be a surprise to some: The Blazing Bulldogs robotics team were regional winners of a 42team competition held at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds earlier this month.
For the first time in 17 years, the victory — shared with a team from Davis and another from East Palo Alto — qualifies the team of nearly three dozen San Jose High students for the First Robotics Championship in Houston next month. In 2023, the team ranked 22nd out of 3,294 teams worldwide based on robot performance and it's already ranked 10th this year.
Shelby Anderson, the team's head coach, said the secret to its success has nothing to do at all with robotics.
“It's about creating a culture that encourages buy-in from every single member of our team on every single decision,” Anderson said. “We win and lose as a team and nothing is the success or failure of a single individual. Everyone feels supported in exploring their strengths and weaknesses. It is just all about confidence that the person next to you is going to make the right decision, or is going to communicate that they don't know what the right decision is.”
The team spent eight weeks building Titan, its 150-pound competition robot used at the regionals — a three-day competition with teams from five states as well as Mexico. In the end, it was human effort that helped secure the regional win when Titan was damaged during a finals match March 3 and needed a quick repair before a tiebreaking third match that the three-team alliance won.
The team wasn't the only winner, either, as Anderson received the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award — presented to an outstanding mentor who inspires and empowers their team using excellent communication skills, and will be up for the championship award in Houston.
The Blazing Bulldogs Team 581 will compete in Fresno on March 2224 and again in Berkeley on April 5-7, but its biggest challenge may be raising enough money to make the trip to Houston in midapril. The team — whose sponsors include Synnex Corp. and Google — must still raise a $5,750 entry fee and about $19,000 in travel expenses to get the team and its robot to Texas.
Anderson set up a Gofundme page for the team's nonprofit, the San Jose Blazing Bulldogs Robotics Booster Club at gofund.me/2fcad162 and says any companies interested in sponsoring the team can contact her at admin@ team581.com.
— Shelby Anderson, head coach of The Blazing Bulldogs robotics team out of San Jose High School