‘Varsity sport for the mind’: Alberta students face off in robotics competition

The robotics tournament at Memorial Composite High School on Jan. 31, 2026. (Galen McDougall/CTV News Edmonton)

A Stony Plain high school became a high-tech arena Saturday afternoon as dozens of student-built robots faced off in the Northern Alberta FIRST Tech Challenge.

The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen as a way to involve kids in robotics and technology.

The gym at Memorial Composite High School became host to the program’s most recent tournament, lauded as a “varsity sport for the mind” as students from Grade 7 to 12 showcased custom robots they’ve spent months designing, coding and building, said a media release from the school.

Jennifer Gemmel, who coaches two community robotics teams at Telus World of Science, said programs like Saturday’s are growing “exponentially” across Alberta.

“Back when we first started hosting a youth robotics team, there was only one division, and now there are at least six (provincewide),” she said on Saturday.

“On the surface level, of course, there’s the science, the technology, but there’s also that teammanship … it’s something that develops so many useful skills that are transferable to their future careers.”

She said youth involvement in tech innovation through Alberta “bodes really well for our future,” especially as AI industries “explode” in popularity.

One Grade 11 student, Sarah Kelland, said on Saturday that robotics tournaments have given her a newfound passion.

“I want to go into computer engineering and environmental sciences … I want to make AI more environmentally friendly,” she explained.

Her fellow teammate, Grade 10 student Larissa Jamieson, said she was applying robotics to her interest in mechatronics.

“Some people use this to make prosthetics for other people, which I think is really cool,” she said.

Nate Glubish, the Alberta minister for innovation and technology, appeared at the high school event on Saturday to kick off the competition. Around 300 students participated.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Galen McDougall