BELTON — Excitement ran high Saturday on the floor of the Garth Arena of the Cadence Bank Center as 33 teams of robots vied to collect yellow balls and dump them in the scoring hub.

Winners of the district-level competition will advance to the state meet in Houston this April, said Fraser Head, mentor and alumni of Memorial Early College High School in New Braunfels. Winners at the state level will advance to the world competition, also in Houston.

Every year the game challenge is different, he said, and hundreds of robotics teams from around the globe will be competing. There is a global community of robot enthusiasts who encourage high school students and their personal growth, he said.

His school sent 32 contestants, most of them sophomores, he said. The school has a build site, an afterschool program and faculty advisors who teach robotics and coding.

"We try to get the students to build as much as possible," he said. "They work on design, strategies and prototype for about 6 weeks. Then they are building."

They can build the robots out of any material, he said, so there is a lot of variation.

"Any student who participates is more likely to pursue STEM because of their experience with robots," he said.

They start out knowing nothing, he said.

"By their senior year they can do anything," he said. "This program is absolutely phenominal."

One of his students, Cash Dodson, 17, a junior, has been in the robotics program for three years.

"I wanted to do programming," he said. "Now I want to be an engineer, after experiencing robotics more."

Robotics has a lot of moving parts, he said, and he likes the complex problems. And there are a lot of experts in the field that he can learn from, he said.

He has other projects besides this year's robot.

"I'm working on a digital stream that can read temperatures," he said. "And I'm making a go-cart out of a filing cabinet."

As for what he's learned, he said he now manages a lot of people.

"I work with my team," he said. "We have a lot of fun and we always end up solving the problem together. I love how far my team has come. I'm grateful for all of them. And I hope we win it all."

Aryan Chawan, 17, a senior at Cinco Ranch High School in Katy, said he's been into robotics all four years. His team, which they've named "Cryptonite," has about 70 members. It took them about eight weeks to make their robot.

"I think I'll probably be like an engineer for the space program," he said.

Working with robotics has taken him a long way, he said, improving his teaching skills and his ability to communicate.

Elna Thinakone of Amarillo, volunteer coordinator, said the tournament requires more than 100 volunteers "just to make sure every single round is filled." That includes judges, referees and technical and non-technical people.

"My friends got me into it and I like the mission, about how we build future STEM leaders," she said. "It's just fun and everybody comes from different backgrounds. It's very inspiring. We all help each other, one way or another, sometimes just by showing up."

Chris Gilbert of San Marcos said he worked for NASA for 43 years.

"Now I get to do fun stuff," he said. "I'm helping a team, one that's close to where I live. I'm trying to help the kids know how to build a robot."