Every year, in the month of March, dozens of teams gather at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga for the FIRST Robotics Competition, The Greater Toronto Regional (GTR). The year 2003 marked the entry of a new team – Team 1219, The Iron Eagles. Hailing from Emery CI near Weston Road and Finch Ave. The Eagles were unsure as to how they would do in the competition, but they were determined to make an impact and to have their presence felt. Bringing with them approximately one third of their school; they caught not only the crowd’s attention, but also the judge’s, earning them the Rookie-of-the-Year award. A new team was born, and for them, the sky was too small as a limit.
The team returned in 2004 with a count of 90 members. Knowing that this was too large a team to manage, the one team became two. 1309, the all-girls counterpart to 1219 was born. Unfortunately, both teams did poorly in the competition, and a lesson was learned. Success would depend on the strength of the team, not on the number of robots made. The next year in 2005 despite being hampered by the overall experience of the team, 1219 made it to Atlanta, Georgia, USA for the championship Event.
1219 made it as the 5th seeded team in Galileo Division out of 85 teams. This put them in the record book as the highest ranking Canadian team to ever participate in the US FIRST Robotics Nationals. In the end they made it to the semifinals, going from 53rd out of 66 teams in Toronto to 6th out of 85 teams in Atlanta.
With a new year of robotics underway, the new team has high hopes and eagerly anticipates the challenges that await them.
