Isaac Hronopoulosbuild log

Drones · ongoing

Drone Soccer

I flew as lead striker for the Australian national drone soccer team at the FIDA World Cup in Korea and the first FAI World Drone Soccer Championships in China. Now I help coach and run holiday workshops for younger pilots.

Role
Lead striker, then assistant coach
Team
Australian national team
  • Drones
  • Competition
  • Teamwork
  • Mentoring
Isaac flying a drone soccer drone with his controller, seen through the arena net, with the rest of the room softly out of focus.
Flying from behind the net during a practice match
  • AustraliaTeam
  • Lead strikerPosition
  • Korea and ChinaCompeted in

What drone soccer is

Drone soccer is a team sport played with drones inside protective ball cages. Each team flies its drones around a netted arena, and only one player, the striker, can score by flying through the other team's goal.

I was the lead striker for the Australian national team, which meant scoring was my job. I flew with the same modified RadioMaster TX16S I use for my own FPV drone.

The drone and the trip

Isaac holding his Air China boarding pass for flight CA137 from Beijing to Gimpo on 22 September, with the barcode and ticket numbers blurred.

01

On the way there

The trip to Korea went through Beijing, with a bag full of drones, spares and controllers.

The drone soccer arena at the FIDA World Cup Jeonju 2025, a netted cage with a red team versus blue team scoreboard and two referees.

02

FIDA World Cup, Jeonju

This is the arena in Jeonju, Korea, where drone soccer was invented.

The drone soccer arena at the FAI World Drone Soccer Championships in Shanghai, a netted cage under a banner of competing nations' flags including Australia's.

03

FAI World Championships, Shanghai

These were the first world championships for drone soccer, held in Shanghai with teams from around the world.

The arena in Shanghai, with Australia's flag up in the row of competing nations

A drone soccer drone with four red motors on a black frame inside its protective ball cage, sitting on a blue mat.

04

The drone

A drone soccer drone flies inside a round protective cage, so it can hit other drones, the floor and the goals without breaking its propellers.

An airport security tray full of drone batteries in bags, with chargers and cables.

05

A tray full of batteries

Drones go through batteries fast, so we travelled with a lot of them, every one packed and checked through airport security.

An airport trolley stacked with suitcases and bags.

06

And everything else

On top of the batteries we carried the drones, spare parts, tools, chargers and controllers, plus our own luggage for the trip.

Korea, then China

Our first big international event was the FIDA World Cup in Jeonju, Korea, in September 2025. Korea is where drone soccer started, and it showed. The other teams flew, positioned and worked together far better than we did, and we came home knowing exactly how much skill we lacked.

Two months later we flew at the first FAI World Drone Soccer Championships in Shanghai. We had trained hard in between, and our flying had improved hugely since Korea. We had a tough round and some matches came down to the wire, but we learned a lot and made good connections with teams and pilots from other countries.

Stepping back, and coming back to coach

I’ve since stepped back from competing. Between FTC and VEX robotics, I simply didn’t have the time to train at that level as well.

I haven’t left the sport, though. I came back as an assistant coach, and I run holiday workshops where I teach younger kids how to fly. I also help them modify and upgrade their drones, like fitting new motors, so they learn how the drones work as well as how to fly them.

The drone I built and the controller I flew with are on the FPV Drone Build page.