By Claire Chow ’26

The Inaugural RoboCupJunior Americas SuperRegional was held at Mercersburg Academy’s Hale Field House in April, hosting 70 teams from the Americas, Europe, and Asia. 

Dr. Julia Maurer, who has been involved with RoboCup for 20 years and is currently serving as a trustee for the RoboCup International Federation, proposed bringing the SuperRegional to the Americas last spring. “We’ve never had a SuperRegional in the Americas. RoboCup has been more established and popular in Asia and Europe, and we’ve been trying to grow it in the States, and in the Americas in general,” Maurer said. The SuperRegional is a way for teams in a certain region of the world to gather. It can often be a more affordable and accessible option when the International competition is held in another region.

Teams brought their robots and competed in rescue, soccer, and performance challenges from Friday, April 25, to Monday, April 28. Students also had the opportunity to share experiences from their culturally diverse backgrounds and learn from each other. On Monday, the final challenges occurred, and many teams were awarded for their outstanding contributions at the closing ceremony that afternoon.

Five teams representing the Mercersburg Academy robotics program competed– two in the categories of soccer and rescue; one in both the onstage and primary rescue categories. Maurer was pleased to “put us [Mercersburg Academy] on the map as a place that is invested in educating students in robotics and STEM-related fields.” 

Maurer hopes that through the RoboCupJunior Americas SuperRegional, students learned to appreciate each other’s work, and like her, see the creativity and problem-solving talents in the robotics community.

To learn more about RoboCupJunior Americas SuperRegional, visit this website.