On Saturday, January 7, 2012, our team and school - St. Francis High School, was host to 22 teams for the FIRST kick off event. This is team member Ty's impression of the day:

It was cold and very early in the morning. All of the Fembots were awake and ready for Kick-off to start. We had been waiting in anticipation all winter. The game was so close to being revealed and we were excitedly running around, escorting the other teams to the gym. We knew we all had to assemble in the gym for the live broadcast at 7:30 am.

As we began to gather in the gym, we heard teams gossiping about possible guest appearances in the broadcast, especially Stephen Colbert. People tried guessing what challenge Dean Kamen could have possibly come up with for this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition. The only hint we had gotten was a list of parts to build the field.

Finally, the broadcast started and everyone immediately started watching. After a few speeches about scholarships and safety and a guest appearance from Stephen Colbert, they announced the new game called “Rebound Rumble!” Soon after, the field elements were revealed before us and everyone huddled around the elements to measure them. The rush of people slimmed down and they began to retrieve their kit of parts in the maintenance area. Now it’s time to get working!