Like most of us, the McKinney Mercenaries had a rough time during the COVID-19 pandemic. After graduation and the lockdowns, all except one of its members left the team. Created in 2017, by 2021 the program was kept alive by one student: junior Alex Schafer.
“Being honest, I thought I was going to have to join a different team,” Schafer told WFAA.
Things were not looking up for the Mercenaries. “Pretty good odds that it wasn’t going to continue,” said team mentor and coach, Mary Mobley. But in just a couple of years, Schafer and Mobley managed to revitalize the robotics team.
Now the McKinney Mercenaries have a total of 28 students from ISDs surrounding the McKinney area as well as home-schooled kids and a new coach joined the team. “We’ve grown so much,” eighth grader Madison Mejia said. “It was almost like a total rebirth.”
Unsure of their own fate, the Mercs, which stands both as a nickname for the team and fields of interest (Mathematics, Engineering, Robotics, Community and Service), didn’t believe they’d be able to make it to state. Yet against all odds, qualified for the latest FIRST in Texas State Championship 2023, celebrated in early April in Houston. During the 2023 five-week-long competition, students from all over Texas gathered to show off their STEM skills in a robot play-off against other teams.
The Mercenaries won the IMPACT award, one of the most prestigious awards given by the FIRST robotics organization, it recognizes teams that sustained excellence and impact within the FIRST community and their own communities, serving as role models for other teams, which is something the Mercs know a thing or two about.
“It’s crazy to think how far we’ve come in this year alone,” said eighth grader Gargi Garg.
The Mercs earned third place in their division at the state tournament, falling short of qualifying for the upcoming world championships celebrated in mid-April, but the recent victory gave them something more valuable.
“Everyone’s working together for the greater good and while we were doing it, we felt like we were a family and we were just doing it to have fun,’ Meija said.
“It gives everyone a glimpse into how great this could be,” Schaefer said.