UTICA — CNY Drones and SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s Academy of Model Aeronautics Student Club announce two major U.S. Drone Soccer team events for students ages 12 to 18 years old.

The U.S. Drone Soccer Region II New York Championship will be held on Sunday, March 26, in the SUNY Poly Wildcat Field House.

Eight teams from around New York state will battle for the Region II Trophy and a spot in the U.S. Drone Soccer National Championship. The event will simultaneously feature a Shadow Workshop for educators and their growing teams to learn drone soccer basics.

Registration questions can be answered by contacting CNY Drones through their website, www.cnydrones.org.

“Our goal is to have an annual event that draws student and educator interest from all over New York state to the SUNY Poly Campus,” said Bob Payne, CNY Drones Volunteer Coordinator and SUNY Poly AMA Club Advisor. “It’s not that hard to do when we get the right groups working together. We’re coordinating statewide support of a fresh idea in STEM that’s growing by leaps and bounds because it teaches valuable, transferrable skills.”

The second event, the U.S. Drone Soccer National Championship which is scheduled to take place April 16, will invite student teams from Alabama, California, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah to the SUNY Poly campus.

Winners from the National Event will be invited to May’s World Championship, scheduled as part of AUVSI XPONENTIAL, taking place in Denver, Colorado.

Drone soccer was brought to the United States three years ago by Colorado-based company, Drone Sports, Inc., later introducing the sport nationally in late 2021.

Aligned with the Academy of Model Aeronautics, U.S. Drone Soccer offers a STEM-based build program with a competitive sports model.

CNY Drones set out to establish drone soccer with funding, technical expertise, and logistical support from the Air Force Research Laboratory Information Directorate in Rome, and in cooperation with SUNY Poly’s AMA Club. Combined efforts created a regional technical support hub in the Mohawk Valley responsible for assisting educators and students through the process of getting started and offering advice on independent league activities throughout the state.

Each month, SUNY AMA and CNY Drones welcome college students to join in their Tech Meets both in-person and virtually at the Robotics Lab within SUNY Poly’s Donovan Hall. The Baja Club, Wildcat Robotics, and students working on capstone projects have kept the lab buzzing and assisted educators who are just beginning to learn about drone soccer.