School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) announced that nine FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition (FRC) teams from Long Island will represent their region at the FIRST 2012 Championship and World Festival Expo that will take place April 26-28 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri.

The FRC teams representing Long Island include Longwood High School Team #564 “Digital Impact”; Great Neck South High School Team #2638 “Rebels”; Plainedge High School Team #527 “Red Dragons”; Southold Junior Senior High School Team #870 “Team R.I.C.E.”; Patchogue-Medford High School Team #329 “Raiders”; Hauppauge High School #358 “Robotic Eagles”; Sachem High School Team #263 “Aftershock”; Bay Shore High School Team #271 “Mechanical Marauders” and North Shore High School Rookie Team #3950 “Robo Gym.”

Longwood High School was this year’s Chairman’s Award winner. The Chairman’s Award is the most prestigious award of the event and recognizes the team that embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST and best represents a model for other teams to emulate.

Great Neck South High School was the winner of the Regional Engineering Inspiration Award at the Long Island FIRST Robotics Competition, which was held March 30 and 31 at Hofstra University. North Shore High School won the Rookie All Star Award. Hauppauge High School was the recipient of the Gracious Professionalism Award.

Plainedge High School and Southold High School were two of the Long Island FRC’s Regional Winners. Winners of the Chairman’s Award are invited to compete in the FIRST Championships in St. Louis, as well as the regional winners and the winners of the Regional Engineering Inspiration Award and the Rookie All Star Award.

Teams will compete in the robotics game “Rebound RumbleSM,” which is played between two Alliances of three teams each. Each Alliance competes by trying to score as many of the basketballs in the hoops as possible during the two-minute and 15-second match. Balls scored in higher hoops score teams more points. Team Alliances are awarded bonus points if they are balanced on bridges at the end of the match.

“We are proud to have these teams that competed in our SBPLI Long Island robotics competition represent our region in the Championship,” said Ginny Greco, FRC Director of SBPLI. “We know that they will bring with them their friendly competitive spirit, their teamwork and problem solving skills and their gracious professionalism.”