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🏴‍☠️Official Facebook of the SWLA Tech Pirates, FRC Robotics Team #8808🏴‍☠️
We are a non-profit community robotics team serving the Southwest LA Region 5 Parish area!

‼️Why would a robotics team call itself the Tech Pirates? 🏴‍☠️Many people don’t know our history. It starts with where ...
10/23/2026

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Why would a robotics team call itself the Tech Pirates? 🏴‍☠️

Many people don’t know our history. It starts with where we come from. Southwest Louisiana has a rich pirate history. Legend says the privateer Jean Lafitte sailed the Calcasieu River and hid treasure along its bayous. Lake Charles hosts the Louisiana Pirate Festival, and the city even had a hockey team called the Ice Pirates.

The Tech Pirates began in 2021 at Alfred M. Barbe High School as the school's first ever robotics team. Barbe's mascot is the Buccaneer, so our original students voted to name the team the Barbe High Tech Pirates. In our 2022 rookie season, those students built our first robot, DASH, and competed in the FIRST Robotics Competition game Rapid React. That's the team pictured here.

Then we had a bigger vision: to bring FIRST Robotics to students at every middle and high school in Southwest Louisiana, not just one campus. So after the 2022 season, we became the SWLA Tech Pirates, an independent community 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Today, students from public, private, charter, and homeschool programs compete together on one team.

When we left the school system, we could have picked a new name. We kept Tech Pirates because it reflects our local history and the place we call home.🏴‍☠️

We believe FIRST Robotics should be accessible to every student, no matter which school they attend.

We’re so excited to kick off our 2026-2027 Champions of STEM spotlight, a season-long celebration of the partners who ma...
10/19/2026

We’re so excited to kick off our 2026-2027 Champions of STEM spotlight, a season-long celebration of the partners who make our work possible, all tied to FIRST CANOPY: Engineer a thriving planet. 🌿

And we couldn’t ask for a better first honoree. DoW STEM has stood behind the SWLA Tech Pirates for many years, and we are so grateful for their continued support of this program. As a Captain Sponsor, they help our students learn, build, lead, and grow right here in Southwest Louisiana. We truly appreciate everything they do for this organization.

Thank you, DowSTEM, for investing in the next generation of STEM leaders in our community. We’re proud to have you on our crew! 💚🏴‍☠️

10/16/2026

Look who made the Day 2 recap! 👀🏴‍☠️💚 This time, you can catch a little clip of our robot scoring at the 2026 Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition!

We thoroughly enjoyed being part of this event. Thank you to everyone who welcomed us and took the time to learn about the SWLA Tech Pirates. We’re grateful for the experience and hope to see everyone again in 2028.

📹 Video credit/source: Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition

Day 2 at the 2026 Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition was another great day for the SWLA Tech Pirates! 🏴‍☠️Our students and...
10/16/2026

Day 2 at the 2026 Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition was another great day for the SWLA Tech Pirates! 🏴‍☠️

Our students and mentors spent the day networking with engineers, companies, and industry leaders from around the world, making new connections and sharing what our team is doing right here in Southwest Louisiana.

One of our favorite moments today was meeting the leadership team ES2 | Geospatial, Surveying & GIS Consulting Services. We enjoyed learning about their work and bringing our robot over to their booth to show them what our students have built. They were genuinely excited about our program and the work we’re doing to develop the next generation of STEM talent.

Throughout the summit, our students had the opportunity to talk directly with industry professionals about their robot. And if you’ve ever talked to our students about their work, you know they don’t hold back! They can explain what they’ve designed, built, wired, and programmed, and the pride they take in their work is easy to see. Watching professionals listen, ask questions, and recognize the skills these students have developed was a highlight of this experience.

We also want to extend a sincere thank you to Lidia, Nell, Harry, and Emmanuel with dmg events for welcoming us to the summit, providing us with an exhibition booth, and giving us the opportunity to demonstrate our robot on the Innovation & Workforce Stage. We are grateful to have been part of such a valuable experience.

This summit gave us the opportunity to show industry leaders what we do. We’re developing confident students who can solve problems, work through challenges, communicate technical ideas, and bring their designs to life. More importantly, the mission of this program is to help our students grow into confident, capable future leaders who are prepared to make a difference in their communities and beyond.

In our program, our students learn how to lead teams, collaborate with others, take initiative, overcome setbacks, speak with confidence, and trust in their own abilities. These are skills that matter in the workforce, in their communities, and throughout every stage of life.

After two days of conversations with engineers, company representatives, and industry leaders, we left feeling even more confident in what we’re building. The talent is here in Southwest Louisiana. Our job is to help our students develop it, believe in themselves, become leaders, and have opportunities to show the world what they can do.

We’re just so proud of our Tech Pirates, and we look forward to continuing our conversations with the people we met at the summit!

10/15/2026

Look who made the Day 1 recap! 👀🏴‍☠️💚 The SWLA Tech Pirates got a little spotlight at the 2026 Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition! Check out the video and keep an eye out for our tiny segment! 🤩

📹 Video credit/source: Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition

WOW. What an incredible first day for the SWLA Tech Pirates at the 2026 Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition!Our students an...
10/15/2026

WOW. What an incredible first day for the SWLA Tech Pirates at the 2026 Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition!

Our students and mentors met SO many companies, executives, and industry leaders from around the world. We even got the opportunity to present our organization and demonstrate our robot on the Innovation & Workforce Stage!

The response has been incredible. We’ve had multiple companies ask us how they can get involved and support our program. Even more exciting? Some companies came to our booth offering INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES for our students! 🤯

One of our favorite moments came toward the end of the day when an electrical engineer from EUTEX International stopped by our booth. Our students walked him through the robot’s wiring, and he shared some tips on how they could improve it. Then, after watching the robot do its demo, he was genuinely amazed by what our students had built. He couldn’t stop complimenting our students and the program.

THAT is what FIRST Robotics is all about. Our students are designing, building, wiring, programming, troubleshooting, and presenting their work to professionals in the industries they may one day join.

Seeing our students connect with industry professionals, share what they’ve worked so hard to build, and have their talent recognized is something we are incredibly proud of.

We’re ready to do it all again tomorrow for Day 2!

The SWLA Tech Pirates are ready to showcase at the 2026 Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition!We’re excited for the opportuni...
10/14/2026

The SWLA Tech Pirates are ready to showcase at the 2026 Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition!

We’re excited for the opportunity to bring FIRST Robotics to an international event and share what we’re building here in Southwest Louisiana!

Our students will have the chance to meet industry leaders and company executives, talk about our program, and show them what students can accomplish through FIRST Robotics. We hope to make new connections, open doors, and show the industry what the next generation of STEM talent looks like.

You never know where a conversation or connection can lead, and that’s one of the things we love about FIRST. We can’t wait to see what opportunities come from this experience and represent our community on an international stage! ⚙️

10/12/2026

BIG NEWS FOR THE SWLA TECH PIRATES!🦾

From the robotics competition field to an international energy summit, our students are getting ready to showcase their hard work in front of industry leaders from around the WORLD, right here in Lake Charles, Louisiana!

We are thrilled to announce that the SWLA Tech Pirates, FRC Team 8808, have been invited to participate in the 22nd Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition on October 14th and 15th!

This is an incredible opportunity for our students. The Americas LNG Summit brings together energy executives, engineers, manufacturers, and industry professionals from around the world, with an expected:

🌎 5,000+ attendees
🌎 200+ exhibitors
🌎 150+ speakers
🌎 40 countries represented

And this year, our students get to be part of it!

We'll be set up in the Innovation & Workforce Area, where our students will be demonstrating their 2026 competition robot and sharing how they designed, built, wired, and programmed it themselves.

We're especially excited for our students to have the opportunity to interact with professionals working in the very industries they're interested in pursuing. They'll get to share what they've learned through FIRST Robotics, talk about their experiences, ask questions, and make connections with people who work in engineering, technology, automation, manufacturing, and other fields every day.

For a group of students from Southwest Louisiana, having the chance to showcase their work at an international event like this is pretty incredible, and we couldn't be more excited for them!

A huge thank you to the Americas LNG Summit & Exhibition team for inviting us and giving our students this opportunity. We truly appreciate it!

If you're attending the summit, please stop by the Innovation & Workforce Area and come meet our students! They would love to show you what they've been working on!

SWLA Tech Pirates – 2026 Season & World Championship Coaches ReportWow! This team pushed past every expectation. Making ...
05/04/2026

SWLA Tech Pirates – 2026 Season & World Championship Coaches Report

Wow! This team pushed past every expectation. Making it to the World Championship 3 times in 5 years is special. It comes from students who choose to show up, put in the work, and believe in what they’re building.

Honestly, this was the best team and robot we’ve ever had.

This season didn’t come easy. We built our robot in 15 days, and our first competition showed it. We had many problems, but no one hung their heads. They fixed what needed fixing and came back better. By our second event, they became finalists and secured their spot at Worlds.

After that, the students wanted a full redesign. They saw exactly what needed to improve. That’s what you hope for as a mentor. With our current resources, it just wasn’t possible, so they made the harder choice: taking what they had and pushing it as far as they could.

They stayed late, came in early, and even traveled out of town to work at Denham Venom’s build space just to keep improving. That level of commitment isn’t something you can teach.

Worlds definitely tested us. The record didn’t go our way, and we finished 58th in our division. We faced motor faults and mechanical failures, but not one student quit. After every match, they were back in the pit, tearing the robot apart and 3D printing parts. They refused to give up on each other.

To our sponsors, families, and supporters - thank you! None of this happens without you. You’ve given these students the chance to experience something bigger than themselves.

We know there’s more ahead. For 5 years, we’ve built this program in limited spaces, without necessary tools, often relying on other teams to manufacture parts. We’re grateful, but we know more is possible.

Even with those challenges, this team finished #3 in Louisiana, #367 in the United States, and #445 in the world. That says everything about who they are and what kind of students we are developing. Now imagine what they could do with the right resources.

We’re heading into the offseason focused and motivated...here’s to the future for the SWLA Tech Pirates!

Address

500 Joe Dumars Drive
Lake Charles, LA
70605

Telephone

+13375495060

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