HACKENSACK, N.J. -- The crowd cheered each time a Frisbee landed in the goal area. And when matches started up again after lunch, many of the onlookers cheered and pumped their fists as mascots pranced about and stirred the crowd to its feet.

If not for the bright hues of T-shirts that showed off each school's colors, one might have mistaken the rival teams - and their cheering sections - for a united front.

And in many ways, they were.

High school robotics teams were given six weeks to build a robot from scratch to toss Frisbees into a set of nets, somewhat like Frisbee golf. On Saturday, the teams finally got to showcase their labor of love.

The two-day Mid-Atlantic FIRST Robotics competition kicked off at Mount Olive High School with 35 teams from New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania vying for the title of event champion and spots at next month's regional.

Some of the teams will advance to the regional championship in Bethlehem, Pa., next month to vie for spots in the world championships in St. Louis at the end of April.

Though the participants admitted they wanted to win, the students and event organizers said the ultimate goal is to foster a collegial atmosphere in which teams are encouraged to help each other perform at their best - by offering technical advice or sharing tools and other materials.

So strongly do they adhere to this principle that FIRST organizers even have a word to describe these competitive learning moments: "Coopertition."

"You want to compete like crazy, but all the knowledge that you gain, the whole idea is to share it with everybody," said Ernie DiCicco, the event coordinator for this weekend's competition and a mentor to the Mount Olive robotics team. "It's not 'me against the world.'"

In addition to building robots, students also created websites and drafted business plans, including a budget, to demonstrate to the judges how their teams would function as corporations. The goal of that exercise is to get students thinking about being entrepreneurs.

Daniel Cobar, a mentor to the robotics team from Garrett Morgan Academy High School in Paterson, N.J., said participants look forward to these events less for competitive aspects than for the opportunity to meet like-minded peers and highlight each others' achievements.

"At the end of the day, we all have the same goal - having fun - and we all have the same larger goal, which is expanding science and technology," he said.

When students at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J., formed a team for the first time this year, Clifton High School invited them to its campus to share its practice space.

Josh McGann, a junior at Don Bosco, said his biggest take-away from the first season has been learning how to handle different personalities.

"It's a bunch of 15-, 16-year-olds learning how to work together," said McGann, whose team won the Rookie All-Star Award at its first competition last weekend. "Robotics isn't about the robot. Robotics is about building a system."

Those are exactly the lessons that FIRST organizers hope to instill in the students. Skills like critical thinking and teamwork are crucial in today's workforce, they said.

FIRST - For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology - began in 1992 as a non-profit to encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology and math by pairing them with mentors and coaches in the industry.

Among its goals, FIRST hopes to inspire more girls to consider careers in science and technology.

On Saturday, Emily Weil, a junior at Mahwah High School, spoke proudly of the fact that roughly half the members of her team are girls. Her teammate, Krysti Leong, a senior who was responsible for putting together the team's business plan, said she intends to study business in college with a focus on the sciences.

"It's kind of frustrating to see (guy-only) teams," Weil said. "I'm sure there are girls who want to join but aren't encouraged to."

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