Drone soccer doesn’t resemble soccer as much as it does the fictional sport of quidditch, played on flying broomsticks in the world of Harry Potter. In real life, drone soccer teams score when they send their drone flying through the opposing team’s goal.
As the esports community expands, drone soccer represents the latest entry taking off in high schools and middle schools. The sport helps K–12 students gain skills in science, technology, engineering and math while increasing their communication skills and boosting confidence. The sport also puts them on a solid path toward an aviation career, proponents say.
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Drone Soccer Incorporates Flight, Physics and Teamwork
The U.S. Drone Soccer Association sanctions the sport, which formally launched at the end of 2021, president and co-founder David Roberts says. The group oversees rulemaking and hosts regional and national tournaments from which teams advance to compete with others around the world.
Drone soccer got its start in 2016 in South Korea, but it didn’t gain traction in the United States until schools reopened more widely after the pandemic.
Roberts estimates that the sport is now played at more than 240 U.S. schools and is one of the fastest growing STEM sports.
“It introduces career and technical education programs and helps maintain interest and engagement throughout the education and aviation employment pipeline,” Roberts says. “There are a variety of team activities that require experimentation and building on the basics in flight, physics and teamwork.”
Clint Dayhuff, an instructional technology specialist at Wichita (Kan.) Public Schools, says, “There’s a ton to learn, but the kids work together and learn how to problem-solve in ways where there’s not just one right answer.”
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How to Get Started with Drone Soccer in K–12
iFlight racing drones are built especially for the sport, housed within an injection-molded, crash-resistant sphere. Teams need to learn how to manage radio controllers and batteries, make repairs and program flight controllers through Betaflight software.
Matches are held within 10-foot-by-20-foot indoor arenas to comply with Federal Aviation Administration regulations. Many schools compete in collapsible arenas set up in multipurpose spaces such as gymnasiums. A team includes five players that fly their cage-protected machines (also known as drone soccer balls) into the other team’s drones to prevent them from scoring through three three-minute sets.
A five-minute period between each set allows students to perform repairs.
“Once you get through the goal, all of your team must go back behind the starting line before you can try to score again,” Dayhuff explains. “It’s chaotic with 10 drones in the air. You need to have scorekeepers watching and knowing what’s going on.”
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Drone Soccer Gets Kids Off the Couch to Engage with Peers
Soccer drones are shipped in pieces, not built, so one of the first things a team must do is assemble its gear, Dayhuff says.
“They try different things to stay within the parameters of the sport but still get the best out of the drones,” he explains. “If it goes down in competition, your coach can’t help you, which I think is a cool part of it.”
A recent tryout for the Wichita district’s high school drone soccer team saw a large turnout, Dayhuff says, and many students are excited to learn how to fly the drones and compete in the sport.
Charlie Bishop, a technology teacher and drone soccer team adviser at Dixon (Ill.) Public Schools, says the sport, which the U.S. Drone Soccer Association requires to be co-ed, is also attracting a new demographic of students.
“I love that this gets kids off the couch,” he says. “A lot of these kids could go play video games at home and not have to work at interacting with anybody. I truly believe it makes them more engaged members of our school community. It’s a huge boost for our kids.”
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In 2023, Bishop and Nicholas Haws, a systems analyst with the district, took the high school team to Alexandria, Va., to compete in the U.S. Drone Soccer National Championship.
Even though the team did not advance, Bishop says, its members learned a lot.
“First, we had to learn to fly. Then we said, ‘Hey, can you try to hover this thing in front of the goal for a few minutes?’ And eventually, we’ll move on to where we’re sweeping to the right and trying to stay there for the duration of the game. That’s coming: the strategy and the playbook,” Bishop says.
Career Opportunities for Drone Soccer Players
Given the prolific growth of commercial and public sector drone applications and the ongoing global shortage of aviation professionals, activities like drone soccer could strengthen connections for young people who represent the future of the aviation and aerospace industry.
Some drone soccer players pursue the FAA’s Part 107 license, which allows holders to operate small, remote-controlled aircraft such as drones outdoors and perhaps earn money for college through weekend or after-school jobs in drone photography. The license is typically the first step students take before pursuing more intensive pilot certification or licensure or aviation-related degrees.
Photo courtesy of U.S. Drone Soccer
