Immokalee High team takes on the world in robotics event in Louisville – Naples Daily News

The Immokalee High School robotics team participated in the World Championship in Kentucky. Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News

Immokalee High School Robotics Team seniors Jenni Villa, left, and Kristian Trevino celebrate winning a match during the Vex Robotics Competition World Championship in Louisville, Ky. on Thursday, April 20, 2017. This is day one of three days of competition for the students.(Photo: Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News)Buy Photo

Worlds collided like slabs of metal in a robotics rink as Immokalee High School competed alongside teams from Kazakhstan to New Zealand under one roof at the 10th annual VEX Robotics World Championship.

The Kentucky Exposition Center, where matches ended Saturdayin Louisville, transformed into an Olympic Village as 1,400 teams from 30 countries and 50 states decorated their booths with cultural memorabilia.

One team from Chengdu, China, lined their table with emerald bamboo shoots, while the booth directly facing them, a team from Muskogee, Oklahoma, went with a hunting theme, covering their walls in a forest green camouflage print and rubber mallard ducks.

Afew rows over, sandwiched between teams from Urumqi, China, and Carrolton, Georgia, two teams from Immokalee hovered over their metal creations, prodding them with Allen wrenches and air compressors.

The robots under operation, named Dragonzord and Megazord, were the brainchildren of a group of seven Immokalee students and their coachFred Rimmler.

Being from Immokalee, you dont really get to meet that many different people, said Dragonzord captain Kristian Trevino, 18. To meet everybody from around the world, its amazing. I think its great.

Immokalee High School Robotics Team senior Kristian Trevino, right, introduces himself to Wen Yuyi, 17, of the Anglo-Chinese School in Singapore during the Vex Robotics Competition World Championship in Louisville, Ky. on Friday, April 21, 2017. This is day two of three days of competition for the students.(Photo: Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News)

Kristian and his teammates spent countless hours after school and on weekends since September assembling and reassembling their robots out of nut and bolts, motors, rubber bands and electrical wiring.

The teams qualified for the state championship in Tampa for the first time and arrived at the world competition as underdogs. Immokalees robotics program is only in its second year, and this was the first year the team competed outside the Collier school district.

We never thought wed make it this far in the first place, said Dragonzord mechanic Isaiah Reyna, 16.

On a 12-foot-square playing field, the bots competed to see how many toy stars and cubes each could throw over to the other side in the allotted two minutes. The robots, driven by a designated team member through a game controller, can gain bonus points for climbing onto a corner post and for driving autonomously.

Team Dragonzord enjoyed a solid run, ending with a ranking of 16 out of 94 in their division after winning seven of their 10 qualifying matches. But the results were just low enough to deter the highest-ranking teams from selecting them as allies for the division finals.

Nobody knew where Immokalee was before, but now that weve started getting our name out there, were considered as one of the best teams in Florida, Isaiah said.

From left, Immokalee High School Robotics Team senior Kristian Trevino, junior Linda Hernandez, and senior Jenni Villa take a break in between matches during the Vex Robotics Competition World Championship in Louisville, Ky. on Thursday, April 20, 2017. This is day one of three days of competition for the students.(Photo: Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News)

Megazord didnt farequite as well, winning just three of their 10 matches because of an unexplainable chronic malfunction. But the team stayed positive and were grateful for the opportunity to represent their small rural town.

Theres a lot of rumors that Immokalees a bad place. This shows that we actually do stuff here, that maybe were not just about agriculture and minorities, said Megazord mechanic George Herrera-Carrillo, 15.

Though they wont be bringing home any hardware, the teams appreciated the opportunity to work with roboticists from other countries including Canada and Singapore.

Isaiah and George enjoyed the unique experience of representing the United States in the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremonies Wednesday.

Everyone was chanting U.S.A.! U.S.A.! he said. There was a lot of excitement and adrenaline going through us.

Immokalee High School Robotics Team seniors Jenni Villa, right, and Kristian Trevino work on their robot before a match during the Vex Robotics Competition World Championship in Louisville, Ky. on Friday, April 21, 2017. This is day two of three days of competition for the students.(Photo: Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News)

Several team members used the occasion to explore their interest in Japanese culture and visited the countrys booth several times. The Japanese team offered them gifts including origami cranes and temporary tattoos with Japanese characters, and the teams added each other on Snapchat and Instagram (a sure sign of the beginning of a teenage friendship in 2017).

Theyre so sweet, said Dragonzord mechanic Jennifer Villa, 18. Its nice to have that camaraderie.

Jennifer was one of two girls on Immokalees teams and took part in the competitions first Girl Powered social, an event aimed at recognizing the intrepid women taking part in a male-dominated field.

We dont need an event to tell us we know how to do (robotics), we already know that, Jennifer said. I think it was more for the boys, to show that we deserve the same respect that guys get.

Immokalee High School Robotics Team junior Isaiah Reyna, left, and senior Kristian Trevino stand among the teams waiting to be chosen for an alliance and a chance to move on the next round during the Vex Robotics Competition World Championship in Louisville, Ky. on Saturday, April 22, 2017. This is the third and final day of competition for the students. Both Immokalee teams were eliminated before the finals.(Photo: Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News)

The students werent the only ones who enjoyed the experience. Kristians parents and three siblings drove 16 hours from Immokalee to join the festivities. His mother, Griselda Trevino, took time away from her job in a tomato packing house to watch her son compete.

The tears began to flow after she watched him annihilate his opponents in the final qualifying match.

Im really proud of my son, she said. Im so happy for him.

Kristians father, William Trevino, a surveillance specialist at the Seminole Casino, said though the family doesnt have a lot of resources, watching his son compete on a global level was too important to miss.

Immokalee High School Robotics Team senior Damian Gonzalez prepares to compete with his robot, Megazord, during the Vex Robotics Competition World Championship in Louisville, Ky. on Thursday, April 20, 2017. This is day one of three days of competition for the students.(Photo: Dorothy Edwards/Naples Daily News)

Its a once in a lifetime opportunity, he said. Especially for them to go from nothing to something all of a sudden, wow.

Coach Rimmler said he, too, couldnt be more proud of the teams performance.

They far exceeded my expectations in every step of the way this year, he said.

Team Megazord

Damian Gonzalez-Perez

Christopher Rios

George Herrera-Carrillo

Linda Hernandez

Team Dragonzord

Kristian Trevino

Jennifer Villa

Isaiah Reyna

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The opening ceremony for the 2017 VEX Robotics World Championship in Louisville, Kentucky featuring the Immokalee High School robotics team. Annika Hammerschlag/Naples Daily News

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Immokalee High team takes on the world in robotics event in Louisville - Naples Daily News