In the world of student competitions, maintaining a consistent, high-achieving team can be more challenging than the competition itself. When you lose your high performing seniors every year it can be a struggle for a school just to keep their team together, not to mention maintain top tier performances.

Just like in professional and collegiate sports, student robotics teams face a revolving door of talent, logistical challenges, and shifting priorities, often resulting in fleeting windows for success.

The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) ROV competition—an event that brings together some of the brightest young minds in robotics—is no exception. Last season’s dominant teams, Cabrillo College and Clovis Community College, who were at the top of their divisions last year, have either chosen not to compete or are facing significant roster changes in the 2025 season. Similarly, other teams, like North Paulding High School, are struggling with the loss of many high performing seniors who graduated last year.

There are many reasons why top teams from one year may not be able to perform well the next year or may not be able to compete at all. Here’s a short run down of what we know from a few of the top MATE teams from 2024.

Exploring New Arenas: Cabrillo College

While Cabrillo College’s robotics team remains intact, they have chosen to forgo the MATE ROV competition to focus their time on competing in an alternative robotics competition. This decision highlights a common challenge in academic competitions: between classwork and other extracurriculars students only have so much free time to dedicate to competing.

The average high school student spends 6-7 hours at school, 2.8 hours on daily homework, and should be getting at least 8 hours of sleep. Add in time for commuting, getting ready for their day, and potential part-time jobs and volunteer work—and if they want to branch out and explore more than one competition? It could come at the cost of competing in the one they already know and love.

There’s only so much time in a day.

This dilemma is not unlike the choices faced by young athletes who excel in multiple sports. In high school, a talented student-athlete might play football, basketball, and baseball. However, as they approach the college or professional level, specialization is the only way to secure a scholarship or contract.

Consider Kyler Murray, who was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in Major League Baseball but ultimately chose to pursue a career in the NFL as a quarterback. On a grander scale, his decision to prioritize football over baseball mirrors the decision many high school robotics teams face. In his words: “I’ll say this, 100 percent with the truth, I love both… I’ve been playing both my whole life since I was 4 years old. And it sucks because you know, you get to this point you just gotta stop playing one.” (source)

With Cabrillo College – the first-place team in the Explorer division from 2024 – choosing to move to a different competition for the 2025 season, the door is wide open to other competitors for the 2025 Challenge. In 2024, our all-time G.O.A.T. in the MATE ROV Competition, Jesuit High School, was right on Cabrillo College’s heels. Does this mean that Jesuit is poised to move back into the number one spot? Or will another challenger rise up to take the title?

The Graduation Attrition Problem: North Paulding High School

High school teams are inherently temporary. Students typically have at most four years to compete together before graduating and moving on. North Paulding High School’s new team during this year’s MATE ROV competition is a direct result of this natural attrition. After the 2024 season, approximately half of their team graduated and left for college, leaving the team struggling to fill the void with new members.

This phenomenon is strikingly similar to the challenges faced by college sports teams when their star athletes move on to professional leagues. Consider the University of Kentucky’s basketball program, known for its “one-and-done” players—athletes who play for one year before declaring for the NBA draft. In 2015, Kentucky lost several key players, including Devin Booker, Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Dakari Johnson, Trey Lyles, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Karl-Anthony Towns, after a historic 38-1 season. Though their 27-9 record the next season was certainly respectable, they did fall from their predicted top-five ranking into tenth place.

The loss of key members on any type of team can create a void that’s difficult to fill. In robotics competitions, as in sports, there is often a rebuilding phase after a team’s most experienced members depart. While new students may step up, it takes time for them to reach the same level of proficiency, and continuity will remain a persistent challenge as the four-year cycle repeats.

Although North Paulding High School – our first-placed team in the Ranger division last year – is still fielding a team, they’re working with a high percentage of rookies.

“Most of the graduated Whaletech team members participated in MATE ROV from middle school through high school, and as a result the team was experienced and prepared for the World Championship challenge,” Jody Patterson, MATE Network Development Director & Registrar, elaborates. “The team has recruited new members who haven’t had the benefit of competing before, so we’ll see if the remaining Whaletech seniors can lead their new teammates back to the MATE ROV World Championship. They have to win the Gray’s Reef Southeast Regional first!”

Will they be able to repeat their first-place feat? Or will one of the other top teams from last year be able to take advantage of the re-building necessary at North Paulding to move into the top spot?

The Transition Barrier: Clovis Community College

Clovis Community College’s restructuring during this year’s competition is due to a fundamental logistical issue: their core team members transitioned to a different school. With an in-person competition like MATE ROV, maintaining a team requires stability. When key members relocate, the entire team structure can collapse.

This issue is abundant in the world of sports as well, when star players are traded or sign with another franchise in free agency. Examples can be found in any league. In the NFL, star wide receiver Davante Adams’s departure in 2022 from the Green Bay Packers after being traded to the Las Vegas Raiders dramatically altered the team’s offensive performance.

In the NBA, LeBron James’s departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010 to join the Miami Heat led to the Cavaliers struggling, and Miami becoming a powerhouse and finishing first in their Division.

In the NHL, Wayne Gretzky’s famous 1988 trade from Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings ended their two-year Stanley Cup streak.

Or in the MLB, in a case of successful rebuilding, after the Washington Nationals star outfielder, Bryce Harper, signed with the rival Philadelphia Phillies in 2019, the team struggled initially… until they adapted well enough to win their first ever World Series that year!

These examples illustrate an interesting, and important, takeaway when it comes to change in the world of competitions—academic or otherwise. Yes, it can be incredibly challenging to replace experienced and valued members of your team, but rebuilding doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative thing. Sometimes, it can be just the push your team needs to excel and reach that next level.

The Universal Challenge of Sustaining Success

The struggles of these three MATE ROV teams highlights a broader reality: continuity is hard in any competitive setting. Cabrillo College had to make a tough decision about where to focus its efforts, much like multi-sport athletes choosing a single path. North Paulding High School faced the inevitability of losing key players due to graduation, just as college sports programs grapple with losing top talent to professional leagues. Clovis Community College saw its team face the need to rebuild with two members relocating to a new school, a challenge that mirrors the upheaval caused by player trades in professional sports.

One thing we can say about rebuilding in student competitions is that everyone has to do it. Every school goes through the same cycle. These examples from three of last year’s top MATE ROV World Championship performers serve as reminders of the ever-changing nature of competition.

In both academics and athletics, maintaining excellence requires not just talent, but also strategic decision-making, adaptability, and a bit of luck. Perhaps, the difficulty of bringing all those elements together is a key component of what makes competition so thrilling.

Can some schools rebuild better and faster than others? Probably. How do you do that? Maybe this is part of the secret sauce of the long-standing dynasties that have performed at the top year after year. For now, we’ll have to wait and see what happens with this year’s MATE ROV Competition season!