From Rookie to Rising All-Star: Team 10989's First Season
How Blast Robotics went from a May 2025 founding to winning the Rookie All-Star and Rising All-Star awards in its first FIRST Robotics Competition season.
Most FIRST Robotics Competition teams spend their rookie season just trying to finish a robot. Team 10989 finished one — and walked away with back-to-back all-star recognition. Here’s how.
Starting from zero, in May 2025
Blast Robotics didn’t inherit a workshop, a sponsor list, or a mentor bench. A group of Berwyn, PA parents, mentors, and students built all of it from scratch starting in May 2025:
- Official FIRST registration as Team 10989
- A donated permanent workshop at Eadeh Enterprises
- Three onboarded adult mentors
- 40+ interested students recruited in the first weeks
- A mentorship partnership with veteran team FRC 1168 Malvern Robotics
- A founding sponsorship commitment from Comcast
Building credibility before the first competition
By the time our robot hit the field, we’d already run a full summer camp (20 students, 300+ volunteer hours), sent members to Temple University’s robotics bootcamp, and won the Gardener Award at the October 2025 Ramp Riot XXV off-season event for cultivating new STEM opportunities.
That track record mattered. FRC judges evaluate teams on far more than match wins — community impact, documentation, and “Gracious Professionalism” carry real weight in award selection.
The 2026 season: two all-star awards
- March 2026, Centennial District Event — Rookie All-Star Award, recognizing outstanding community engagement and documentation
- April 2026, Philadelphia District Event — Rising All-Star Award, in only our second competition, recognizing rapid growth across the board
Winning an all-star award in your rookie season is uncommon. Winning two in a single season, across two different district events, reflects a team that built its foundation — outreach, mentorship, documentation — before it ever built its robot.
What’s next
We’re heading into future seasons with a returning mentor base, an expanding Blast Camp and STEM Tutoring pipeline, and a growing sponsor list. If you want to be part of the next chapter, donate through Keystone STEM Alliance or join the team.
