Westminster High School senior Helen Tran said she has developed a passion for the sport over the past four years.
“When I say, 'I play drone soccer,' a lot of people don't know. They're like, 'You're playing women's soccer,'” she said. “In a way, it's similar to Quidditch.”
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Mr. Tran is a defender on his school's drone soccer team. While drone soccer became popular in South Korea, the game was introduced to the Westminster School District in 2020 during the pandemic.
“You really learn how to communicate with your team, especially in situations where there are noisy drones flying around,” Tran said. “Each side has five drones, one is a striker and flies through the hoop on the other side to score points. The other four are basically defenders.”
“This is a great way to get kids excited about all things engineering, computer science and aviation,” said Robert Ferguson, CTE Aeronautical Engineering teacher at Westminster High School.
Since drone soccer began in the area, teams like Tran's have competed in several events.
“Last year we competed in South Korea, so even though we beat the second-place team, we were able to finish third in the world,” Ferguson said.
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But this year, the team is taking on a unique opportunity, bringing together middle school, high school, and college-level students into one team to compete in the first-ever Academic World Cup in San Diego.
“We have six students and two university students,” Tran said.
The competition follows months of preparation for the integrated team, which included building and programming the drones that will be used in the competition.
“When I think of Lego sets, I get hooked on them because they come with all the parts,” Tran said. “We will work with the team to find ways to build these.
But these players want to build on more than just a chance to win. They also hope to further raise the profile of the sport.
“I feel like the attitude toward the United States has definitely grown, so I'm very excited,” Tran said.
For Tran, playing drone soccer also provided him with lifelong skills that he can use in any future career.
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“It’s about being concise and clear and getting things done, building things and solving problems,” Tran said. “I think it's very meaningful for me to be in this field, especially for women, who are underrepresented in the aviation industry.”
The drone soccer competition will begin on Tuesday, April 23rd, with the semi-finals and finals being live-streamed on Wednesday, April 24th. Click here for event details.
