Fun to the third power...

Cube.  Rubik's Cube.  The competition.

Steph is the coach for the school's Rubik's Cube Team.  She is a math teacher, so I guess that is a good fit.  The kids on the team have been practicing.  This is their first competition... this is all new to them.  It feels a bit like the movie McFarland.

This Phoenix Regional Rubik's Cube Competition was held on the campus of ASU West...

There are 17 schools in their middle school division.  I wasn't aware there are "speed cubes," cubes that turn easier than a regular Rubik's Cube... schools who have more budget (discretionary spending) have those.  Steph bought 25 lightly used cubes and borrowed our Dremel to make them turn easier.  Yes, that is legal for the competition.

A look at Rainbow Valley's team...

Pretty sharp shirts, huh?  Dan designed them.  Steph was getting paperwork when I took this photo.  She was back to give her team a pep talk...

Some of their parents and family who were here to support...

I had no idea this was a big thing.  Check out the size of the crowd...

Rainbow's team was in the first group to compete.  They swap cubes with other teams to mix them up, then get their own cubes back.  I overheard someone from another team say, "Oh, those cubes turn hard."  (referring to Rainbow's cubes)  No matter, they are here to compete.

They hadn't seen professional timers before.  Bigtime.  One more last minute pep talk...

Last minute instructions from the judges...

And, they're off and cubing...

Done!

They placed 9th out of 17.  Right in the middle of the pack... and they learned a lot from this first exposure to cube competition.  For clarification, they have to complete 25 cubes as a team.  That was 4 minutes and 30 seconds to complete 25 cubes.  With 8 team members and an alternate.  Their hands were flying - I was impressed.

Next was the solo competition.  Joan, Dan and I stepped out to go get the kids some lunch.  When we got back, we learned the fastest solo time was 11 seconds.  11 seconds??  How is that even possible?  They are allowed up to 10 minutes.  Steph's fastest cuber got it in 53 seconds.

After lunch, Dan took some of the kids outside to toss a football (and give them the chance to blow off some steam).  Then, we watched the team finals.  Another feather in Rainbow's... well, wherever they put a feather... they were faster than some of the high school teams.  A fun experience for the kids... and they will be even better next time around, now that they have been through it once.

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A post wouldn't be complete without some kind of feline content.  Another hot day here... 96º.  Little Izzy was in air conditioned comfort in the motorhome... at her "viewing platform" by the window...