From scratch to the national stage in half a year – a group of Dewsbury teenagers are turning heads after taking on the world’s best young robotics talent.
Team SPARKiiZ – a group of Dewsbury teenagers have pulled off what many teams spend years building towards – reaching the UK national finals of one of the world’s biggest robotics competitions just six months after forming.
Made up of nine young people, Team SPARKiiZ, went head-to-head with more than 60 top teams at the FIRST LEGO League UK finals in Harrogate last month – competing not just nationally, but against international sides from France, Germany, Brazil and Kazakhstan.
Six months ago, the team didn’t exist. Today, they are fast becoming some of the country’s brightest young engineering minds – designing, coding and programming LEGO-based robots to tackle real-world challenges. Their rise has been nothing short of remarkable.
Starting from the ground up, the team gave up evenings, weekends and school holidays to master robotics, coding and engineering – building their skills brick by brick.
At the regional finals at the University of Bradford, SPARKiiZ secured second place and picked up the Best Project Award – beating 20 other teams to lock in their place at nationals.
From there, it was straight into the big leagues.
The Harrogate finals on 25th April saw the Dewsbury team competing on an international stage, with the overall winners set to represent the UK at the global finals in Mexico.
In a proud moment, coaches Emma from iZWiZ Robotics and Riyaz Gajra, founder of Making Sparks, were crowned winners of the national Team Coach Award for the FIRST LEGO League UK UNEARTHED 2026 season.
Riyaz Gajra said the project was always about more than medals: “This was never just about winning,” he said.
“It’s about showing young people from Dewsbury what they’re capable of. To go from no team to a national final in six months is something they should be incredibly proud of.”
For Emma, the recognition was the icing on the build. “It was completely unexpected,” she said.
“Watching their confidence grow, seeing how they came together as a team – that’s been the real reward.”
Behind the scenes, the initiative is helping lay the foundations for future careers.
Making Sparks has been running a wider robotics club alongside the competition team, giving more young people the chance to get hands-on experience – even if they weren’t part of the league.
Working with local schools, colleges and employers, the organisation is now focused on building clear pathways into STEM careers.
