BHS ‘Bellevillains’ compete at FIRST World Championships

By Mark Laginess
Team 6615, the Bellevillains, packed up their robot and pit gear and headed to Houston, Texas, to pursue the title of “World Champion” as part of the 2024-2025 FIRST Robotics Competition.
A total of 601 teams from around the world invaded the George R. Brown Convention Center for the three-day event from April 17-19.
Marking the second consecutive year for the BHS team at the world championships, the Bellevillains were among 76 teams assigned to the Curie Division, one of eight divisions on the eight fields in the massive facility.
Unlike the local district and state competitions which gave participating teams 12 qualification matches per event, the world championships consisted of 10 qualifying matches followed by a divisional double-elimination playoff and an eventual overall event playoff, also a double-elimination format.
As with district and state events, teams were randomly assigned into alliances of three for each match with six teams on the field at one time. For their first match of the day, the Bellevillains were coupled with Team 1466, Webb Robotics from Knoxville, TN, and Team 10154, PizzaByte 2.0 from Panama which was in its rookie year.
While that match and the next three resulted in losses for the BHS team, they closed out the first day of competition with their first win which featured another international partner, Team 4481, Team Rembrandts from the Netherlands, and Team 1771, North Gwinnett Robotics from Suwanee, GA.
Perhaps the most challenging match was the sixth which opened the second day of competition when the Bellevillains’ partners were both from Istanbul, Türkiye, Teams 6838 and 6948, X-SHARC and EAGLES, respectively.
Said mentor Jeremy Church about the experience, “Lots of translating on the fly.” While that match was another loss, Team 6615 won three of the four remaining matches on the second day to finish with an overall 4-6 qualification record and 57th place in the division, a marked improvement over the 1-9 record and 73rd place in the 2024 championship.
Even though they were not chosen to compete in the divisional playoffs, the Bellevillains stood out from the crowd with their signature uniforms which featured stove-pipe top hats for each member of their drive team.
“The villain theme was a big success,” said Church. “The hats got so much attention. The [game] announcer asked if she could wear one during one of our matches, and she did. Sharp-dressed kids get attention.”
The Houston championships capped a second consecutive successful season performance for Team 6615. Improvements in the team’s maturity in robot design and construction, drive team capability, and pit and scouting support have been noteworthy.
Since it was formed in 2017, Team 6615 has realized several notable achievements, including:
– • Highest Rookie Seed and Rookie Inspiration Awards in 2017 at the St. Joseph district event;
– • First Place banner and trophy at the 2018 St. Joseph district event;
– • Playoff alliance captains in 2024 at both Belleville (Alliance 1) and Ann Arbor Skyline (Alliance 3) district events;
– • Imagery Award at the 2024 Belleville district event;
– • Team Spirit Award at the 2024 Ann Arbor Skyline district event;
– • DTE Division winner in 2024 at FIRST in Michigan state championships;
– • Overall event finalist (second place) trophy in 2024 state championships;
– • Finalist trophy at the 2025 Belleville district event;
– • First place banner and trophy at the 2025 Renaissance district event;
– • Engineering Inspiration Award at the 2025 Renaissance district event; and
– • Back-to-back invitations to the 2024 and 2025 Michigan district championships at Saginaw Valley State University and the FIRST world championships in Houston.
The Bellevillains, Tiger Robotics Booster Organization, and all Van Buren Public Schools Robotics teams at all levels owe a huge “thank you” to our generous sponsors, including:
BellevilleMain, LLC, Autokiniton, GM, Snider Electric, Sunbelt, Van Buren Public Schools, Van Buren Education Foundation, the Jahr Family, Intents Events, Waste Management, Belleville Kiwanis, Sumpter Ace Hardware, SME, Reflections on the Lake, Atchinson Ford, CRG Electric, Barnett Roofing, Moving the Mitten, Interstate Batteries, DTE, Hennessey Engineers, Hungry Howie’s, Kabob Gardens, Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Kevin and Lisa Martin, St. Anthony Parish, Inspirations Hair Salon, Garden Fantasy, Burke Sales and Engineering, Edward Jones McGovern Wealth Management Group, Amy Pearce, PLAV / VFW, Haggerty Logistics.