The Valparaiso University Robotic Football Team won the 2022 Collegiate Robotic Football Conference Championship held at St. Mary's College. This is the team's third championship victory since joining the conference in 2015.
"I feel great about the win," said Caleb Mandile '24, a first-year member of the team. "I am excited to see what the team can do next year."
In addition to winning the championship, the team took third place in the Robotic Football combine, an event meant to test the strength, speed, maneuverability and durability of their machines.
"I feel incredibly proud of my team and all of the hard work we put into preparing for the competition," said Kristina Labovic '23, co-president and head coach of the team.
The Valparaiso Robotic Football program is open to students of all majors with an interest in learning the ins and outs of robotics and is part of the larger Valparaiso Robotics team. In addition to football, the team competes in the annual Midwest Robotic Design Competition and works with local schools and businesses to spread the passion for robotics and engineering.
Robotic football is largely the same as the sport played by humans, with a few variations. While touchdowns, kicks, two-point conversions and field goals score the same number of points, additional points are awarded for successfully thrown and caught passes. The game also consists of eight machines on each side trying to push down a 30-yard field. A full list of point values and rules can be found here.
The Collegiate Robotic Football Conference is a league of Midwestern schools including Valparaiso University, University of Notre Dame, Ohio Northern University, The United States Naval Academy, Indiana Tech, and Purdue University.
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