2002-2005

Team 971 was founded in 2002 by a group of interested Seniors who approached the science and technology teacher. This group lead the team for two years, until the Tech Teacher decided that he did not have enough time and the founding members graduated. In 2004, the team was taken over by the AP Physics teacher and a Junior who was a freshman on the original team along with an enthusiastic group of rookie students. This group led the team to a regional victory at the 2004 Silicon Valley Regional, a trip to the 2004 Nationals, and a strong showing at the 2005 Silicon Valley Regional.

2006

The next year, the Physics teacher decided because of his move, he would not have enough time for the team, so the slack was picked up by a dedicated math teacher and a strong student leadership. In 2006, the team tried an ambitious strategy that resulted in a lot of learning, but did not work as well as expected. None the less, the team still decided to go to Championships. That year, the team also connected with Berger Manufacturing, which allowed them to manufacture an intricate hopper design.

2007

In 2007, with Berger Manufacturing, PF Development and a Solidworks seat, the team was able to try new ideas. With a combination of Berger’s sheet metal abilities, and PF Development’s machining abilities, the team was able to create an intricate robot design that worked pretty well during the competition.

2008

In 2008, most of the previous year’s team, which consisted of seniors, had graduated. The remaining members of the team successfully recruited many freshmen and sophomores to be a part of this amazing experience. All of the new team members were shown all aspects of the competition and what jobs had to be filled. After each team member selected the field that they were interested in, the more experience members trained the newcomers in everything related to that field so that they would be ready with knowledge to build the robot. With a team of excited rookies, the team went all the way to the quarterfinals at the 2008 Silicon Valley Regional.

2009

After a huge recruiting effort, the team composed of many excited freshman ready to learn from the existing members. The new team members learned and explored different aspects of robotics through pre-season projects and training sessions. All of the team’s knowledge was put to the test during build season, resulting in a robot that went, with the help of Teams 254 and 852, undefeated at the 2009 Silicon Valley Regional. At the 2009 FIRST Championship, the team joined 111 and 67’s alliance in Galileo and went undefeated through the rest of its matches all the way to a world champion title.