1918 NC GEARS and NC COGS

04/22/2026

We wanted to take a moment to recognize a long list of sponsors that helped make our amazing season possible. Without their generous support, our program would not continue to thrive.

Our logo sponsors:
NC PEERS, Inc.
The Ge**er Foundation
The Ploeg Legacy Foundation
Fremont Area Community Foundation
Gene Haas Foundation
GM Wood Products
The Lynema Family
TOYOTA
Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors - Lisa Lightfoot
Schmidt Community Foundation
Newaygo Insurance Agency Inc.
The TenBrink Family
The Traxler Family
The Barstow Family
Newaygo County RESA
Michigan OSET 99h

And our 100 for 100 sponsors:
Health Smart Nutrition
The Lunch Pail
Farmers Insurance - Todd Jones Agency
NAPA Auto Parts of Fremont
Cookies & Cream
Ensing's Water Care
Excellence in Vision
Niebor Electric
Edward Jones - Glenn McLain
Mike Saum - State Farm Agent
Tunney Family
Scott & Robbin Faulkner
Kerkstra Portable Restroom Service INC.
Michael P. Campeau, DDS, PC
Chris Suchner Agency
Anonymous Donors

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04/19/2026

After months of team work and grueling, stressful, competition schedules, NC GEARS is proud to wrap our season as the 27th ranked team in Michigan out of 531 teams.

Our competition season saw us achieve:
- Finalist at West Michigan District event
- Excellence in Engineering Award at West Michigan
- Winner at Ferris State District event (undefeated)
- Autonoumous award at Ferris
- 4th seed captain at Michigan State Championship Aptiv division
- Industrial Design award at Michigan State Champs

With 244 district ranking points, we handily secured a spot in the FIRST world championship in Houston.

It is with a heavy heart that we will be declining our invitation to the world champs, but we feel we owe our fans and sponsors an explanation to understand why we would make this decision, which is not done lightly.

The NC GEARS robotics program is celebrating it's 20th year in operation. We intend to stick around another 20 years plus, supporting the youth of Newaygo County in our one of a kind program that provides real world experiences in technology, engineering, business, design, software development, electrical engineering, graphic design, team building, peer development, and so much more.

Our community program, operated by a 501(c)(3) organization, NC PEERS, Inc. is not cheap. We rely entirely on grants and sponsorships, along with calculated financial decision making, to keep our program running.

This season, NC PEERS will be entering a new chapter in our lifetimes as we seek a new, long term facility to call home for our NC GEARS Robotics Center, allowing us to continue serving the youth of Newaygo County.

While we cherish the opportunity to attend the world championship as a team competing in the top 1% of the world, spending upwards of $30k or more would all but ensure the end of the future of this program.

For the second year in a row, we are graciously declining our invitation in order to protect what we hold most dear, the future of the children in our community for years to come.

We encourage you to follow our feed, share our stories, and talk to your community leaders and businesses about what they can do to make sure our program can stick around.

Thank you,
Jim Barstow
NC PEERS, Inc board president and mentor of NC GEARS Robotics

04/18/2026

04/18/2026

Building robots is complex. Securing seats in the stands to watch your robot compete in the Playoffs at the Michigan State Championship is more complex.

04/18/2026

04/18/2026

So, so proud of this team! Our first match today is against Alliance #5 at 9:39am.
Tune in to watch at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21LSvtGNmCc

04/18/2026

Special thanks to Red Thunder Robotics #7166 for the parking lot party for excellent Chicken fried rice... Are you telling us a chicken fried that rice?

04/18/2026

Proud to be headed into the playoffs as Captain of Alliance #4! Couldn't have picked better partners than The Automatons Team 7768 and The Byting Bulldogs 3539! Let's GOOO!!!!!!!