The 2025 Sussex Scrimmage

Feb 11

Feb 11 The 2025 Sussex Scrimmage

Cover photo from Charger Robotics

Aanya Ranasaria

Next weekend marks the 25th year of the Sussex Scrimmage, a yearly tradition and pillar of the local FIRST® community. On Sunday, February 16th, Hamilton High School will welcome 25 regional robotics teams and over 1,200 people for the annual robot scrimmage event. This event marks the culmination of 6 weeks of intensive building and preparation.

This year’s FIRST® Robotics Challenge, “Reefscape,” requires teams to navigate their robots through an ocean-themed course. Each match is two minutes and 30 seconds—consisting of an autonomous period, teleoperated period, and endgame period. Throughout the match, teams must maneuver "algae" (rubber balls) and "coral" (PVC pipes) onto various scoring elements including the "reef," "barge," and "processor." The grand finale involves robots climbing metal cages suspended by moving chains. Rather than renting a prebuilt field, Charger Robotics team members construct the course from scratch, a task which looks different every year.

The Sussex Scrimmage is more than mere robot competition. It embraces FIRST®'s 2025 theme, "DIVE," which uses ocean exploration as a metaphor for discovering student potential and fostering innovation for global improvement. The event serves as a crucial testing place where teams can refine their strategies and troubleshoot their designs in a low-stakes environment before the official competition season begins.

Attendees will have the opportunity to discover many different robotics programs, with demonstrations from FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC) and FIRST® Lego League (FLL) teams. The event offers a unique opportunity to witness robots from various age groups in action. Young attendees can engage with STEM through hands-on crafting activities at dedicated booth stations.

The public is invited to experience this celebration of technology and innovation on Sunday, February 16th from 12pm to 4pm. Members of the community are encouraged to come see the hard work that numerous high school robotics teams have put in and to see the impact of STEM on our community!