The Westminster Public Schools Drone Soccer team took home the silver medal in the first ever Academic Drone Soccer World Cup in San Diego last month. Made up of students from Orchard Park Academy, Westminster High School and WPS graduates now attending Metro State University, the team traveled to California in style equipped with complimentary backpacks from popular outdoor recreation company Fjallraven.

 

The WPS team came in first among U.S. teams, winning ten sets and losing just two. First place was awarded to the South Korean team which went undefeated during the two-day tournament.

 

Drone Soccer is an exciting competition where students must first learn to build, program and repair drone aircraft designed for collision inside a cage. Each team flies five aircraft that ram into and block each other while attempting to navigate one drone into the other team’s goal. Between flights, teams must quickly act as a repair crew to fix any damage. The tournament looks like a combination of Harry Potter’s Quidditch with a formula one pit crew.

 

Students on the WPS team have already earned a reputation as some of the best competitors in the world– last year’s team traveled to South Korea to compete in the Drone Soccer World Championship.

 

The ultimate goal is to connect students with high-paying jobs as pilots, aircraft technicians and air traffic controllers.

 

CBS 4 Denver profiled the team as well.

 

See the video below.