We are team #11444 Garnet Squadron; a FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) Team based out of Columbia, South Carolina. Our passion is to spread STEM values throughout our community. Our team is community driven and operates out of the USC School of Engineering, allowing us to accept students who are home schooled or go to schools that don’t have a team to join. We compete in FTC competitions around the region, and last year we won the FTC State Qualifier, advancing us to the FTC World Championship. 

We participate in challenges and competitions hosted by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science, and Technology). FIRST has 3 different robotics programs, each with a different challenge every year: FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), and FIRST LEGO League (FLL). To learn more about FIRST and its respective programs, check out firstinspires.org. For our local programs, check out firstsouthcarolina.org.