Central Alberta is home to some pretty talented kids and over the weekend, the Lacombe and Bentley robotics team took home gold.

The team collected the Rookie All-Star award at their competition, the FIRST Robotics Competition Canadian Rockies Regional in Calgary, and now with the proper funding and approval could head to the World Championships in a few weeks in Houston.

One of the mentors and teacher at Lacombe Composite High school, Steve Schultz says it's pretty impressive to have so much talent from a small pool of people.

“There are some teams that have the capacity to draw from thousands, if not tens of thousands of students.”

He explains that some also have a lot more funding.

 “When we looked at the competition we were facing, there are teams that have huge sponsorship and huge dollars.”

Schultz says they are waiting to hear details but if it's a go, they will be heading out for the tournament which is April 17-20, 2019.

The FIRST Robotics Competition or FRC is a yearly worldwide event that he says requires some intense competition. 

“When you think about it, we have a very small community and the kids have a lot on their plate,” explains Shultz, “and yet the students in this particular situation have shown a lot of resiliency and teamwork.”  

The United Robotics of Lacombe originated back in 2004 with their first competition in 2006 at Red Deer College.