Amidst wild scenes, an Illawarra robotics team representing 20 regional schools went "ballistic" with "lots of screaming" when they were named the best of the best against 600 teams made up of some of the world's smartest young minds.

With the majority of the 44-strong local team being girls, this was a triumph, not just for putting Wollongong on the world's radar as a leader in robotics, but also for young women with smarts in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

After going close previously, the team leader, 15-year-old Zanita Pratt, is still pinching herself about the win and being able to share it with her teammates, the majority being girls.

"Overall, 56 per cent of our team are girls, and so are 80 percent of the leadership group," Zanita said. "A big part of this competition is to bring more girls into the STEM area, which is great."

Convinced we wouldn't win

"Winning was definitely a surprise. They announced six finalists, and we'd been in that position for the past three years," Zanita said. "I'd convinced myself we wouldn't win because a team from Perth was also in the final and they'd beaten us in the Australian final."

Then came the announcement that Wollongong's Team Bucephalus had won the prestigious Impact Award at the Texas-based international FIRST robotics championship.

"There was lots of screaming," Zanita said.

"They just went ballistic," said long-time mentor Andrew Clark who, together with his wife, Lyndell, are excited that they've steered the team to a place in robotics history.

Robotics hall of famers

"Project Bucephalus is now a member of the FIRST Hall of Fame. This gives us automatic progression to the championships for the next eight years, and it's also booted us into an elite group that serves as an advisory board for FIRST and for teams around the world; something we're still getting used to."

While relishing their team's success, Andrew and Lyndell say winning isn't everything. The majority of the team is diagnosed with a disability or disorder and Andrew says their big personal goal is to divert kids, keeping them out of trouble by providing a positive outlet for their talents.

They have certainly achieved that, and much more.

"We're already getting international requests for mentoring, speaking at conferences, and consulting on outreach," Andrew said. "We've already run several online conferences."

Having put Wollongong on the map, the head honchos from Texas will be heading to the region later this year to see first-hand just how the Project Bucephalus team makes the magic happen.

"In November we will get a visit from FIRST CEO Chris Moore and creative producer, Blair Hundertmark. They're going to put together a mini-documentary on the team and the region to be shown at the global Kickoff in January 2026," Andrew said.

Lord Mayor's first 'Local Heroes'

The robotic team's accolades haven't only been restricted to the USA. Upon returning to Wollongong, Lord Mayor Tania Brown has announced a new Lord Mayor’s 'Local Hero' award, and our city’s first recipient is the Project Bucephalus robotics team.

“I have seen the team of students, led by their volunteer mentors Andrew and Lyndell Clark, work on their robot out of a small room at Wollongong TAFE,” Lord Mayor Brown said.

“And I’ve witnessed first-hand their pride in participating, creating and building their robots. To win on this scale … against 600 teams from around the world … is an absolute credit to them.”

Our Lord Mayor hopes the Wollongong Local Hero award “will provide the opportunity for people doing extraordinary things, every day, to be applauded for their efforts”.

Accepting the Local Hero award, Zanita Pratt said: "It's such an honour to have our work recognised, and especially being the first winner."

While Zanita will return with the team to defend their title next year, longer term she's setting her sights on a career in architecture and design as a Disney imagineer. If successful, she said that could take her from Wollongong to Paris, Tokyo or Hong Kong.

It's clear Zanita and her team's international success has given her a sense that anything is possible, and the world really is her oyster.

Footnote: Bucephalus was Alexander the Great's horse and one of the most famous horses in world history.