Carleton’s first-ever FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)—an event supposed to showcase the work of over 20 high school teams across the province—was cancelled in light of the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 virus.
FIRST announced the cancellation with a statement via Twitter, as Carleton University cancelled all events on campus, to protect the safety of staff and students.
“We are deeply disappointed to share the news that in light of recent health concerns FIRST Canada events are immediately suspended,” read the statement.
The cancellation is supposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, since large groups of people in venues can put people at risk for contracting the disease.
Students, like Collin Town, a 16-year-old student at A.B. Lucas Secondary School located in London, Ont., were devastated to hear about the cancellation.
His team found out on Friday, March 13, they would no longer be attending the competition.
“The cancellation has impacted our team and our local FRC community greatly,” Town said. “Many teams in our school board never got to compete with the robots they spent weeks and countless hours working on.”
Town and his team were prepared to show the judges what they devoted so much time creating.
“We really thought that our robot was one of the best we have created yet as our school’s team is relatively new.”
“After this, we haven’t heard much except from the experience from other teams,” Town said. “A few hours later, FIRST notified all teams that all future events this season were suspended.”
Sean O’Neil, also a 16-year-old student currently attending Sandwich Secondary School located in LaSalle, Ont., worked diligently with his team to create an innovative robot. O’Neil and his team were prepared to travel to Ottawa to compete against other schools.
“The cancellation of all FIRST Robotics Events this season has been very upsetting for all members of my team, especially the senior students,” O’Neil said.
O’Neil said he was surprised by the news, and although he and his team desperately wanted to compete, the situation was out of their control.
“We spent about two weeks planning what the best design would be for the type of scoring we wanted to achieve,” he said of the effort himself and his team put in.
Students added they are hopeful the event will be rescheduled for the following school year.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
