Cosmic Snowballs finish their middle school robotics career with a new high score at international contest

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Cosmic Snowballs ended their middle school robotics career on a high note, returning from Massachusetts this week after a successful showing at their last competition in the FIRST LEGO League.

“That’s a wrap,” said Coach Patrick Nyberg.

The middle school TAG students started in 2023 as the first Charles City team to participate in the international competitive robotics program. Designed to foster STEM skills like programming, engineering, and problem solving, the program challenges students to design, build, and program a Lego robot to accurately and quickly perform a series of preset challenges.

Though a new program for Charles City, the Cosmic Snowballs immediately made their mark in the world of competitive Lego robotics, outperforming more established programs from much larger cities. The Snowballs came out strong in their first season, achieving the high score in their regional qualifier and going on to a second-place finish at the 2024 state championship, earning them a trip to the Florida Sunshine Invitational later that summer.

In their second year the Snowballs again smashed their way through the regional qualifiers, going on to compete in the state championship, missing a first-place finish by millimeters as their robot narrowly faltered on two key missions.

While the Snowballs again missed out on going to the national championship, they earned an invitation to another prestigious out-of-state contest.

On Thursday, June 12, Isaac Gassman, Graham Hansen, Sierra Hinz, Elliott Linde, Carter Mack, Flynn Osier, Benny Tracey, and Dixie Wilson set out for Massachusetts to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute to compete against more than 100 teams in the WPI Annual First Lego League Event.

“It was brilliant. It was so cool to be on that international stage against some of the best teams in the world,” said Nyberg. “Every team there was in the Top 5 or Top 8 of their state championship or national championship.”

The long weekend event began on Friday with a team check-in, after which the Snowballs did some sightseeing in Boston, exploring the city and getting an unofficial tour of the Boston Dynamics lab at MIT before going back for the opening ceremony.

“We saw the lab where they tested some of the coding for both the biped robots and dog robots,” said Nyberg. “The campus was gorgeous and it was a lot of fun to learn about the types of projects MIT students work on.”

On Saturday, the Snowballs spent their time on the practice field preparing for the contest, planning their route and tweaking their program for maximum efficiency. Things were looking good for the team as their official practice run brought in a score of 435. While the practice score didn’t count for their competitive point total, it served as a demonstration of what the team was capable of.

After practice, the Snowballs enjoyed some and fun and games with a team party to unwind ahead of their big day.

With hundreds of peers from across the nation and world attending, the event offered the rural Iowa children an opportunity to make connections with students from lands near and far, putting names and faces to the far corners of the world.

“That’s the biggest celebration,” said Nyberg.

Finally, on Sunday, it was time for the competitive event.

The Snowballs had four attempts to replicate Saturday’s success but, just like at the state contest, they were stymied by tiny misfires that cost them big points.

“In classic Snowball fashion, we couldn’t get out of the day without a little bit of drama,” said Nyberg.

The Snowball’s first round brought them a score of 355, a respectable attempt but far less than what they were capable of.

The second round went no better, coming in at 345, followed by a disastrous third round of 305 points.

Determined not to let frustration get the better of them, the team took a breather to regroup and reassess. Keeping optimism high, Nyberg pointed out that even surpassing 300 points placed them above many of their competitors.

With just one attempt left, the Snowballs set their robot out for its final run. After an afternoon of frustrating mishaps, the team watched as their robot navigated the board and completed its missions with its best performance of the day, earning them a season-high score of 425.

“To break that 400 barrier was big,” said Nyberg.

Four months ago a score of 425 would have easily secured the Snowballs a first place victory in the state robotics contest. Competition on an international stage was significantly steeper, but their achievement still earned them 24th place overall out of the 104 competing teams.

“It was a good way to bring their journey to a close,” said Nyberg.

With their last Lego contest behind them, the Cosmic Snowballs will be retiring the team name as they move into high school, where some plan to bring what they’ve learned to the high school robotics program.

As for future middle school teams, Nyberg is not sure how next year’s program will look quite yet, but hopes to be able to call upon the Snowballs to help teach the next generation of Lego League kids.

“They get to be mentors moving forward and share their tips and tricks with the kids coming up,” said Nyberg.

Nyberg said he is thankful for all of the support the community has given the Snowballs through their middle school journey. From active parents volunteering their time to local sponsors contributing to their equipment and trips, the Charles City community has been instrumental as the Cosmic Snowballs represent the city, and sometimes the entire state, on a national stage, he said.

“It’s something I love to do and it’s something that’s hopefully been a bright spot for our community,” said Nyberg.