VRC Pumpkin Spiced
November 2025
On November 15th, 2025, our teams competed at Ewa Makai Middle School.
INTENSE MATCHES
Twenty-five hardworking teams came from all around the island to compete in the Pumpkin Spiced Push Back, hoping to become the next tournament champion! Before each match, alliances strategize with each other on who would be playing offense or defense, even strategizing which goals they want to fill up first. All 359 teams held on, trying to climb their way to the top of the rankings. To accomplish this, they made sure the robots program had successful autos, running it multiple times on the practice field before each match, filled goals as fast as possible, then defended opposing teams as much as possible to prevent them from scoring using mechanisms on their robot like an arm made for descoring and taking control of the goals. One match from this event that really stood out, showing how dedicated and how well 359 teams work together was in match 42. In that match, 359B and 359C were alliances as they were against 4400X and 84141B. With very clear communication and a planned out strategy before the match, they ended off with a score of 117-20. As qualification matches came to an end, our teams had their final qualification rankings. 359B ended in 8th place with a win-lose-tie record of 5-3-0. 359C had a win-lose-tie record of 4-4-0, making them place 12th. 359C tried their hardest, but ended up with a win-lose-tie record of 1-7-0, which had gotten them placed 24th. 3590A placed 11, with a record of 4-3-1. 3590B had the record of 5-3-0, putting them in 9th place. Lastly, 3590C ranked 7. They had a record of 5-3-0. Closing the qualification matches, our teams are ready to head to alliance selection!
LOOKING AHEAD
Our teams looked forward to the alliance selections, as they had the opportunity to become tournament champions if they collaborated well with their chosen alliances by forming defense and offense strategies with their alliance before every match. 359B paired up with 2477Z. 359C got a chance to pair up with 4400X, who had ranked 3rd in qualification matches! 359C, who thought they had no chance in elimination being placed 2nd to last, was chosen by 2467J to become alliance partners. 3590A paired up with 96789S. 3590B paired up with their sister team, 3590C. Unfortunately, team 359B did not make it to quarterfinals with a close match of 25-27. As quarterfinals ended, 359D, 3590B, and 3590C sadly had their competitions come to an end. Excitingly enough, our final standing 359 teams 359C and 3590A had become semifinalists. With 3590A going against 96789Z and 316W, their competition had also sadly come to a close with an end score of 21-92. Our last team in the semifinals, 359C, who made a comeback after placing 24th in qualification, also had gone through a really tough match. Alas, 359C ended the match with a score of 31-51. As their alliance matches came to an end after trying their hardest, they discovered many things they must improve on, and adapted many new skills like strategies, and even new autos to create. A memorable moment was when 359C won the Innovate Award, qualifying them for the state championships! They had worked hard in their interview and throughout the tournament to showcase their innovative robot component, the blocker and descorer mech.
ARRIVAL AND PREPARATION
Teams 359B, 359C, 359D, 3590A, 3590B, and 3590C arrived bright and early at Ewa Makai Middle School for their third competition, Pumpkin Spiced Push Back! The teams went straight to their pits and started preparing their robot for inspection. Teams got their robots inspected right as the station had opened up.
ALLIANCE SELECTION
As this is merely the third competition in The Hawaiian Kids’ season, our students definitely still have many more obstacles to find their way and get through. It’s not how we start the competitions, but how we finish! This competition allowed them to identify many challenges they must fix before their next competition. Of course, we give thanks to our mentors who led us to where we are now with their supportive words, and very helpful ideas to not only make our robots get the best they can be, but even push ourselves to become better! Don’t miss out on the next thrilling competition for the Hawaiian Kids. Catch us at the Roosevelt JROTC Tournament on November 22nd! We’re looking forward to competing with our improved robots!
Check out our other VEX Competitions!