{"id":109926,"date":"2025-12-26T21:45:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T21:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/109926\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T21:45:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T21:45:13","slug":"meet-long-beachs-newest-sports-powerhouse-satos-drone-soccer-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/109926\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Long Beach’s newest sports powerhouse: SATO\u2019s Drone Soccer program"},"content":{"rendered":"

What began as California\u2019s first drone soccer team has made breakthroughs in the sport to become the gold standard of academic and competitive success in Long Beach within just three years of its founding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The SATO Academy of Mathematics and Science Drone soccer team represented the United States during the 2025 F\u00e9d\u00e9ration A\u00e9ronautique Internationale (FAI) World Drone Soccer Championships in China from Nov. 15-18, where the team placed fourth in the 40 centimeter section and fifth in 20 centimeter matches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s honestly mindblowing because I didn\u2019t think we were gonna get that far,\u201d said Kira Black, president of the SATO Drone Soccer Club and the team\u2019s goalie.<\/p>\n

SATO Drone Soccer head coach Albert Gallo founded the program after he heard about the U.S. Drone Soccer League<\/a> and subsequently pitched the idea to the principal, who \u201cabsolutely loved it,\u201d he said. Gallo then began pitching the program to kids he taught in his engineering class during the 2022 school year, and it has grown ever since.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Drone soccer consists of four defenders and one designated attacker (the drone with red stripes). The attacker\u2019s goal is to go straight through the goal ring to score points for their team. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

Drone soccer is a five-on-five sport where the aim of the game is to score as many goals as you can by driving a \u201cstriker drone\u201d completely through the opponents goal. Two members of each team are designated as the \u201cstriker\u201d and \u201cgoalie\u201d as the match is broken up into three, three-minute sets. The team who scores the most goals wins each set, and whoever wins two sets wins the match.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The SATO Drone Soccer program is broken up into two senior-led official teams they send to tournaments, \u201cMushu\u201d and \u201cDragon Fire.\u201d The two separate groups of seniors have been on the team since its inception at SATO. The school also has a separate club for students to join recreationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI told them [the professional players from Mushu and Dragon Fire] from the beginning that, \u2018you guys are the pioneers of this sport,\u2019 we\u2019re rewriting playbooks [and] we\u2019re writing strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 SATO drone soccer coach and team founder Albert Gallo<\/p>\n

SATO\u2019s drone soccer team has been dominating the U.S. drone soccer sphere since its inception.<\/p>\n

Since starting the program in 2022, they\u2019ve placed first in the U.S. Drone Soccer Championships in 2023 and 2025, and earned a second-place finish in 2024. Multiple members of the program have received recognition from the United States Drone Soccer Association<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most recently, team Mushu won the U.S. Drone Soccer Championship on May 3, 2025 and had the opportunity to represent the U.S. National Team in China.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The SATO Drone Soccer Club talks with one another just before being dismissed at their 7 p.m. practice on Dec. 9, 2025. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m extremely proud of our students and our pilots, I couldn\u2019t have done it [without] my wife helping me, the principal of the school helping, the district helping us finance the equipment. Seeing all that growth is very satisfying,\u201d Gallo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Drone Soccer originated in South Korea in 2016 from the research team in CAMTIC Institute of Technology<\/a>, but the first tournament in the U.S. started in April 2021 in Colorado<\/a>, with the United States Drone Soccer Association formally launching near the end of 2021.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

SATO\u2019s Drone Soccer program has helped students apply the skills they learn in STEM classes as well as build their communication and teamwork skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made a bunch of new friends just by being in the club, I\u2019ve been more social, I\u2019ve been a better communicator,\u201d Black said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As their success has catapulted them into a Long Beach sports powerhouse, the team\u2019s goals have shifted from just having fun to placing first in every single tournament they enter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Kira Black, senior and president of the SATO Drone Soccer Club, talks with the team on Dec. 9, 2025 as they draw up different types of formations during their last practice. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

SATO\u2019s program has also helped influence other schools across the United States. According to the U.S. Drone Soccer Association<\/a>, U.S. Drone Soccer has reached 300+ schools and organizations, serving 5,000+ students in 38 states.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The team has also been instrumental in getting other drone soccer teams in Long Beach started, allowing the Millikan High School drone soccer team to practice at SATO and loaning them drones to use<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Albert and his wife, Andrea Gallo, are co-founders of California Drone Sports<\/a>, which holds camps, coaching clinics and helps fundraise for schools with the goal of continuing to expand, promote and support drone soccer programs throughout California.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even with all of the success as one of the pioneers of drone soccer in California, the team faces challenges on the horizon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Twelve seniors from the official teams will soon be graduating from SATO, which means more than half the program is leaving. Gallo\u2019s main goal is restructuring the team while maintaining their competitiveness, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"SATO Drone Soccer Club head coach and team founder Albert Gallo poses with the team\u2019s awards, trophies and a signed team USA shirt on Dec. 9, 2025 in Long Beach. (Samuel Chacko | Signal Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna miss these kids the most because there\u2019s 12 of them,\u201d Gallo said. \u201c[To] see them go on to do great things is gratifying, but it\u2019s also the knowledge base that is leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other challenge is finding money to get students to international tournaments. During the\u00a0tournament in China, donations from the Long Beach Airport and Supervisor Janice Hahn were divided between hotel rooms and equipment, while the students\u2019 parents paid for the flights to China.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard there\u2019s a tournament coming up in April in France and I would love to take a team, but where do we find the money? You could probably find money for hotels and food but who\u2019s gonna pay for the flights?\u201d Gallo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gallo said they\u2019re hoping to have an invitational on Jan. 31 and host a regional competition on March 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to fill the stands with more fans and more people wanting to come,\u201d he said. \u201c[The March 21 event] would be great just for people to come out and watch and see what drone soccer is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information about their program and events, follow SATO\u2019s Drone Soccer Club on Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"SamuelSamuel ChackoPhotojournalist<\/p>\n

Samuel Chacko is an award-winning photojournalist from Long Beach, California. Samuel currently works as a freelance journalist for multiple publications and he is a class of 2025 Cal State Long Beach graduate. Samuel loves watching sports (the Ravens and the Yankees) and taking photos.
Check out more of Samuel\u2019s work here: https:\/\/samuelchacko.com\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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