Roseville robotics team finishes third, wins Team Spirit Award, in Duluth
FireBears achieve success through teamwork, technical skills, and enthusiasm.
The FireBears, the Roseville Area High School robotics team, finished third place and won the Team Spirit Award at FIRST Robotics Regional in Duluth on March 7.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics is one of the world's premier student engineering competitions, drawing thousands of teams from across the globe. The 2026 Lake Superior Regional featured 42 teams competing in 77 qualifying matches.
"It makes me feel happy and proud for the team and gives you the adrenaline of winning a higher rank," said Reagan, a freshman member of the FireBears.
At the competition, the FireBears (team 2486) earned the role of alliance captain and the number three seed heading into the playoffs, hand-selecting two partner teams to compete alongside them in the bracket. They competed as an alliance with team 2503 from Brainerd and team 3082 from Minnetonka.
This marks the first time in a decade that FireBears has served as an alliance captain.
"Being a successful alliance captain can be challenging, as there is usually a teamwork element to the competitions that isn’t neatly reflected in the rankings after the qualification matches. In order to do well in the tournament if you are an alliance captain, you have to gather information about other teams during the qualification matches in a process known as scouting," head coach Don Seiford shared via email.
Information gleaned from scouting is then used to pick the other teams to join the alliance.
The team also received the Team Spirit Award, which earned them extra points toward moving on to the championship events. The Spirit Award was given to the team demonstrating "extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit through exceptional partnership and teamwork furthering the objectives of FIRST."
FireBears Robotics
FireBears Robotics is a student-led robotics team comprised of twenty-seven high school students. The team is divided up into sub-teams with different responsibilities.
"Electrical does wiring and powering the robot. CAD creates designs for the robot. Mechanical builds the robot. Programming codes the robot so it knows what to do and when to do it. The drive team drives the robot at competitions. MTR (More Than Robots) does things like fund raising, designing t-shirts, buttons/pins, and a banner for the pit," Seiford said.
In addition to robotics skills, students also learn leadership skills, project management, and teamwork.
The program is supported by Horton Inc., Roseville Area Community Foundation, Aster Labs, BAE Systems, Gene Haas Foundation, Boston Scientific, and Lockheed Martin. The program is dedicated to inspiring students through hands-on engineering, programming, and collaboration.
Next competition
The FireBears will be competing next at the 10,000 Lakes Regional on March 28 at the 3M Mariucci Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.
"These regionals have historically been open to the public, but due to recent current events of historical significance that impact the safety of high school students, there may be a registration and background checking process to be announced," Seiford said.
If you're interested in attending, keep an eye on the FRC Northland website for more information.
If the team does well at 10,000 Lakes or in the Regional Championship Pool, they have the opportunity to be selected for the FIRST Championships in Houston, Texas. The team may also be selected for the Minnesota State High School League State Tournament.
Keep track of the team's progress on the Blue Alliance website.
Next fall, catch the FireBears at home at the Minnesota Robotics Invitational and Robotics Inspire Support Everyone (RISE) off-season competitions at RAHS in October.
More information for spectators will be posted on the FireBears website.
