Registration 2013

[Mark McLeod]

Another season is upon us.
Registration begins September 27 and teams are debating their competition schedules.

Just something to start with, here are a couple of geographical time lapse looks at team growth each year since 1992.
They're in the form of a 21 year slide show.
Colors change to signify each event structure change, e.g., 1995: added a second event called Nationals, 2009:added the District system.
By the last slide Red is Championship, Blue are Regionals, Yellow are Districts, Green are District Championships, Purple are Teams.
Click through the slides or download and it should run automatically.

Close up of North America
(http://www.team358.org/files/frc_records/FRC_Growth-1992-2012.pdf)
World View (http://www.team358.org/files/frc_records/FRC_World_Growth-1992-2012.pdf)If anyone wants to do a version featuring their own local area, all the maps are linked at the top of this page: http://www.team358.org/files/frc_records/index.php
For instance, I have one zoomed in to just show the development of local Long Island teams.

[Steven Donow]

Hopefully all the MAR events will be announced/confirmed like, before Wednesday night...


EDIT: Just checked FIRST's website, the TCNJ district and Bridgewater district are listed!

[JohnBoucher]

Nice presentation Mark. :D

[Libby K]

Another season is upon us.
Registration begins September 27 and teams are debating their competition schedules.

Just something to start with, here are a couple of geographical looks at team growth each year since 1992. They're in the form of a 21 year slide show. Colors change to signify each event structure change, e.g., 1995: added a second event called Nationals, 2009:added the District system. Click through the slides or download and it should run automatically.

Close up of North America (http://www.team358.org/files/frc_records/FRC_Growth-1992-2012.pdf)
World View (http://www.team358.org/files/frc_records/FRC_World_Growth-1992-2012.pdf)These are pretty rough and I didn't mean to clip a couple of teams off the edge of the maps, so I'll redo them sometime later and update the link targets.

This is so great! Thanks for posting.

[lynca]

Close up of North America (http://www.team358.org/files/frc_records/FRC_Growth-1992-2012.pdf)

This is amazing ! Everytime I think about FRC statistics, I always go to the source and verify with Mark McLeod's stats !

[rachelholladay]

Close up of North America (http://www.team358.org/files/frc_records/FRC_Growth-1992-2012.pdf).

Very cool! I wonder what the map will look like a few years from now..

[Mark McLeod]

Initial capacity reached by

GSR (23) @ 12:16
Boilermaker (30) @12:45
Pit (30) @ 1:30First 2013 rookie is team 4450 from Olympia, WA

Here's how the first hour of registration looked.

[Fletch1373]

Initial capacity reached by

GSR (23) @ 12:16
Boilermaker (30) @12:45First 2013 rookie is team 4450 from Olympia, WA

Here's how the first hour of registration looked.

On top of things as always, Mark.

[Taylor]

Initial capacity reached by

GSR (23) @ 12:16
Boilermaker (30) @12:45

Gah! 4 minutes too late!

We're staying waitlisted. Even if it means FIRST doesn't recognize us as a team yet. We want in BMR!

[M. Mellott]

Pittsburgh (30) showing full

[Mark McLeod]

2:54pm hit 1000 registered teams.
That took a day and a half last season.
We're 50% over last year at this same time.

The next set of events now approaching initial capacity are:

(3 left) WPI Regional
(4) SBPLI Regional
(7) Waterloo Regional
(7) Silicon Valley Regional

[PayneTrain]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but "filled regionals" in the first round are never actually filled, but rather list 60-70 percent of their final capacity.

Also, I have had trouble finding the open registration date... any help?

EDIT: Found all relevant dates for registration. I'll post them here

All times are at noon
Sept 27: Initial Registration
Oct 1: KOP option opens
Oct 4: Local Kickoff Registration begins
Oct 11: Second District Registration begins
Oct 11: CMP Registration for Pre-Qualified Teams begins
Oct 18: KOP Option closes
Oct 25: CMP Waitlist opens for non-2012 CMP-attending veterans
Oct 25: 2nd Regional Registration begins
Nov. 1: Open Event Registration period begins
Dec 6: All event registration closes
Dec 7: Initial payment due

[Alpha Beta]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but "filled regionals" in the first round are never actually filled, but rather list 60-70 percent of their final capacity.

Also, I have had trouble finding the open registration date... any help?

November 1st (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/calendar/list)


Initial Regional event registration opens at noon Thu, 09/27/2012
Initial District event registration opens at noon Thu, 09/27/2012
Kickoff registration opens at noon Thu, 10/4/2012
Second District event registration opens at noon Thu, 10/11/2012
FIRST Championship registration for pre-qualified teams opens at noon Thu, 10/11/2012
FIRST Championship waitlist registration for veteran teams that DID NOT compete at the 2012 FIRST Championship opens at noon Thu, 10/25/2012
Second Regional event registration opens at noon Thu, 10/25/2012
Unrestricted Regional event registration opens at noon Thu, 11/1/2012
FIRST Championship waitlist registration for veteran teams that DID compete at the 2012 FIRST Championship opens at noon Thu, 11/8/2012
Regional, District and Championship registration closes at noon Thu, 12/6/2012

[Mark McLeod]

The date you're probably looking for is on the Season Calendar: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/calendar/


Initial capacity usually leaves at least 10 slots, sometimes more if big area growth is anticipated, for rookies who haven't registered yet.
If the rookies don't show, then waitlisted teams can get them. Sometimes not enough slots are reserved for rookies and the Regional asks for veteran team to voluntarily transfer elsewhere.

[Jon Stratis]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but "filled regionals" in the first round are never actually filled, but rather list 60-70 percent of their final capacity.

Also, I have had trouble finding the open registration date... any help?

Second Regional registration opens Oct 25, unrestricted opens Nov 1.

[Jimmy Nichols]

The date you're probably looking for is on the Season Calendar: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/calendar/


Initial capacity usually leaves at least 10 slots, sometimes more if big area growth is anticipated, for rookies who haven't registered yet.
If the rookies don't show, then waitlisted teams can get them. Sometimes not enough slots are reservered for rookies and the Regional asks for veteran team volunteers to transfer elsewhere.

We were holding back 10 spots and then today I noticed it was upped to 12, I noticed this on a couple other events as well.

[Mark McLeod]

A few more events are approaching Initial Capacity.
(1) WPI Regional
(1) SBPLI Regional
(1) Silicon Valley Regional
(6) Waterloo Regional
(7) St. Louis Regional
(7) Oregon Regional
(8) Seattle Regional

[Travis Hoffman]

November 1st (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/calendar/list)

I expect we'll see something rather special happen on that day. :cool:

[DarrinMunter]

Gah! 4 minutes too late!

We're staying waitlisted. Even if it means FIRST doesn't recognize us as a team yet. We want in BMR!

We were about 15 minutes late too.
Last year it was at least 2-3 days before it reached capacity.

[Gregor]

We were about 15 minutes late too.
Last year it was at least 2-3 days before it reached capacity.

5.88 days.:D (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1182472&postcount=282)

[Mark McLeod]

SBPLI (39), WPI(32) & Silicon Valley(42) Regionals are at Initial Capacity now as well.
Oregon Regional (54) filled by 10:30pm

The Bosnian team has returned from some time off.
The Netherlands, Germany, Chile, Israel, Canada, US, Australia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Turkey - all heard from.
69 rookie teams are eager to begin.
More than half the teams from last year re-registered during the first day.

Here's how the first day of Registration looked in comparison to last year.
Pretty healthy growth resulting in a record number (7) of sold out events on the first day.

[Jmulderig]

1-Is there any way to see what number on the waitlist you are?

2-When do they typically start to pull from the list?

[Jimmy Nichols]

1-Is there any way to see what number on the waitlist you are?

2-When do they typically start to pull from the list?

The only ones who know where you are on the waitlist, other than FIRST HQ, are the Regional Directors, and maybe the Planning Committee chairs. I know we don't know on our committee.

It varies depending on rookie team registration. It can be as early as Nov. and as late as Jan or Feb. The Regional Directors are the ones who begin authorizing the clearing of the waitlist because they are in the know of late registering rookies.

[Mark McLeod]

1-Is there any way to see what number on the waitlist you are?

2-When do they typically start to pull from the list?

You won't have any problem Jake.
Registering when you did put you pretty high on the waitlist, if not at the top, and we only get a couple of rookies each year.
You can drop Ginny a note if you want reassurance.

[Mark McLeod]

Seattle has gone to a waitlist.

Others running short are now:
(3) St. Louis
(4) Waterloo
(7) Midwest
(9) Boston
(9) Hatboro-Horsham District

[JohnBoucher]

Where do the rookie team numbers start?

[Mark McLeod]

Where do the rookie team numbers start?
First 2013 rookie is team 4450 from Olympia, WA

[PayneTrain]

According to the director blog, numbers 4450 and up are 2013 rookies.

[MARS_James]

According to the director blog, numbers 4450 and up are 2013 rookies.

I find this hilarious cause the highest rookie number to my knowledge was 4410 the Cyborg Senators. I get them wanting it to be easy to know who is a rookie and who isn't but they skipped 40 numbers

[George1902]

I find this hilarious cause the highest rookie number to my knowledge was 4410 the Cyborg Senators. I get them wanting it to be easy to know who is a rookie and who isn't but they skipped 40 numbers
FIRST usually reserves a few numbers every year for new teams that don't meet the rookie team criteria (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/rookie-team-criteria). Any new team with an approximate age of last year's rookies will be assigned one of those 40 numbers.

[buildmaster5000]

I find this hilarious cause the highest rookie number to my knowledge was 4410 the Cyborg Senators. I get them wanting it to be easy to know who is a rookie and who isn't but they skipped 40 numbers

Generally FIRST HQ likes putting gaps in the numbers like that for future use. The best example I can cite off hand is when 47 and 61?? merged to form Wings of Fire (Team 51). Note that even though the merge was completed in the past four years, the new team still has a really low number.

There is more information somewhere on the FIRST website, but I cannot seem to find it.

[Mark McLeod]

There are examples of new teams getting low numbers this year:
193 in Flanders, NJ (a new second team at Mt. Olive High School- also has team 11)
1786 in Lubbock, TX (looks like a split off from team 1817)
2451 in St. Charles, IL (changed their number from 2949)Here's a quick map of the teams registered so far: http://batchgeo.com/map/72217533bb068ec6452f4770fd12be47 (http://batchgeo.com/map/72217533bb068ec6452f4770fd12be47)

[GaryVoshol]

Team numbers by year

FRC
• Teams #1-#208 were rookies in or before 1998 (this is due to FIRST giving teams new numbers every year previously).
• Teams #209-#335 were rookies in 1999.
• Teams #336-#491 were rookies in 2000.
• Teams #492-#716 were rookies in 2001.
• Teams #717-#999 were rookies in 2002.
• Teams #1000-#1238 were rookies in 2003.
• Teams #1239-#1497 were rookies in 2004.
• Teams #1498-#1709 were rookies in 2005.
• Teams #1710-#1980 were rookies in 2006.
• Teams #1981-#2287 were rookies in 2007.
• Teams #2330-#2681 were rookies in 2008.
• Teams #2702-#3122 were rookies in 2009 (no even numbers between 2702 and 2826).
• Teams #3123-3423 were rookies in 2010.
• Teams #3450-3883 were rookies in 2011.
• Teams #3925-4410 were rookies in 2012.
• Teams #4450-xxxx were rookies in 2013.

[DonRotolo]

Here's a quick map of the teams registered so far: http://batchgeo.com/map/72217533bb068ec6452f4770fd12be47 (http://batchgeo.com/map/72217533bb068ec6452f4770fd12be47)
Cool Mark. Thanks, as always.

Am I the only one who is seeing a distinct lack of teams in New Your State north of the New Jersey border? I mean, Rockland & Orange counties are quite heavily populated, but not a single team. I wonder why?

.

[Mark McLeod]

Waterloo has reached Initial Capacity.
A second Australian team registered for Hawaii late last night and Saskatchewan has been heard from.


Am I the only one who is seeing a distinct lack of teams in New Your State north of the New Jersey border? I mean, Rockland & Orange counties are quite heavily populated, but not a single team. I wonder why?


There have never been teams in that area, but I don't know why not.
This is a snapshot of all the NY FRC teams there have ever been, and it's pretty empty there.

[Andrew Lawrence]

Silicon Valley has 118 and 148 attending. Those are gonna be some exciting elimination matches.

[MrTechCenter]

Plenty of room in CVR though! And 568 is showing some Sacramento love! Can't wait to meet 'em!

[Mark McLeod]

More than 1400 teams registered now, almost a week ahead of last year.
(This doesn't count teams that are unreported while pending (estimated to be ~39) on the waitlists (waitpools might be a more accurate term, since no order is assumed) of the unusually large number of oversubscribed events)

89 new teams (3 aren't considered rookies)
Rookie team generation:
(8) Arkansas is ahead
(6) Michigan & Washington tie
(5) Tennessee, Pennsylvania & Georgia tieCalifornia is leading with 130 registered teams
Michigan & NY are next at 102 and 93 respectively.

[Ultimatum]

Silicon Valley has 118 and 148 attending. Those are gonna be some exciting elimination matches.

I completely did a double take when I saw this. It's going to be a fun week 6 regional, with so many powerhouses attending. 254 might have to watch their back for once, considering that they have won 11 out of 12 of the regionals at SV.

[Mark McLeod]

Events at Initial Capacity:
Granite State
Boilermaker
Pittsburgh
WPI
LI
Silicon Valley
Oregon
Seattle
WaterlooEvents with Initial openings reduced to single digits:
(1) St. Louis
(4) Phoenix
(4) Midwest
(7) Peachtree
(7) Boston
(8) MAR Hatboro-Horsham
(9) Montreal
(9) RazorbackThe most popular 1st choice among the new Regional events:
(21) Razorback
(13) Crossroads
(9) Northern Lights
(9) Inland Empire
(7) Hub City
(6) Central Washington
(6) Pine Tree
(4) Western Canadian

[Billfred]

Events with Initial openings reduced to single digits:
(1) St. Louis
(4) Phoenix
(4) Midwest
(7) Peachtree
(7) Boston
(8) MAR Hatboro-Horsham
(9) Montreal
(9) Razorback

Fingers crossed for some Peachtree spots to linger to second event registration! I know a lot of members of Team Columbia have their eye on it.

[IndySam]

Mark, where are we as compared to last year and how many total teams were there last year?

[RoboMom]

[QUOTE=Mark McLeod;1188196]Events at Initial Capacity:[LIST=1]

Mark, Would it be time consuming to add the capacity of each of those to your list?
And the week.
Just ruminating....

[Mark McLeod]

Mark, where are we as compared to last year and how many total teams were there last year?

Total 2012 teams: 2339

We're at 1415 now vs the 2012 total at this time of 1143 teams.
That's 5 days ahead of last season or a ~24% gain.

[MARS_James]

Mark, Would it be time consuming to add the capacity of each of those to your list?
And the week.
Just ruminating....

I am not Mark but I can answer this for you:

Events at Initial Capacity:
1. Granite State (Week 1, 23 Slots)
2. Boilermaker (Week 3, 30 Slots)
3. Pittsburgh (Week 3, 30 Slots)
4. WPI (Week 2, 32 Slots)
5. LI (Week 6, 39 Slots)
6. Silicon Valley (Week 6, 42 Slots)
7. Oregon (Week 2, 54 Slots)
8. Seattle (Week 5, 54 Slots)
9. Waterloo (Week 4, 20 Slots)

Events with Initial openings reduced to single digits:
• (1) St. Louis (Week 3, 25 Slots)
• (4) Phoenix (Week 4, 40 Slots)
• (4) Midwest (Week 6, 43 Slots)
• (7) Peachtree (Week 3, 46 Slots)
• (6) Boston (Week 4, 43 Slots)
• (8) MAR Hatboro-Horsham (Week 1.5, 36 Slots)
• (9) Montreal (Week 3, 42 Slots)
• (9) Razorback (Week 6, 30 Slots)

The most popular 1st choice among the new Regional events:
• (21) Razorback (Week 6, 30 Slots)
• (13) Crossroads (Week 6, 38 Slots)
• (9) Northern Lights (Week 2, 40 Slots)
• (9) Inland Empire (Week 5, 40 Slots)
• (7) Hub City (Week 1, 44 Slots)
• (6) Central Washington (Week 4, 42 Slots)
• (6) Pine Tree (Week 6, 38 Slots)
• (4) Western Canadian (Week 6, 38 Slots)

[Mark McLeod]

Mark, Would it be time consuming to add the capacity of each of those to your list?
And the week.


It's not time consuming, because I maintain that information for my own use. I actually take time to cut that out before I post.

I can add the max capacity with the caveat that my total capacity can only be considered, at best, an outsiders estimate.
The total capacity of an event is at the sole discretion of the Regional Director. So I can use the numbers from last season if the venue hasn't changed, or the Initial Capacity +10 or 12. But circumstances and considerations that I can't possibly know about can make those numbers unreliable.

P.S.
Is what James posted what you are looking for?

[RoboMom]

P.S.
Is what James posted what you are looking for?

close enough. Thanks all!

[Mark McLeod]

St. Louis, Phoenix, & Midwest also reached initial capacity this morning.
15.5% of Regionals are at the "waitpool"* stage.

And we have over 1500 teams registered now.
64% of last year's max teams.

New category, events at Initial Capacity who subsequently add more teams:

(+2) BAE (added a rookie and a veteran team)
(+1) Boilermaker
(+6) Pittsburgh
(+2) Seattle
(+2) Silicon Valley* Waitlist is misleading, since it isn't an ordered list, so I made up a new term, waitpool, to refer to the group of teams hoping for a released spot.

[SarahBeth]

Oh wow, I didn't realize that GSR was such a small capacity this year - we were hoping to maybe be able to slide in their for our second registration choice, but maybe not now. We're already registered for WPI in week 2, and I wasn't really looking forward to doing regionals back to back (even if one of them is insanely local and I get to sleep at home), but if that's the way it worked out, then so be it.

Glad to see that Boston still has some capacity, so fingers crossed by the time that second regional registration rolls around, slots are still available since we have our eye on it. ;)

[Anupam Goli]

Fingers crossed for some Peachtree spots to linger to second event registration! I know a lot of members of Team Columbia have their eye on it.

It's going to be tough to beat out the competition to register! With 5 new rookie teams, and hopefully all of the teams from last year, We're looking at a 60+ team regional again, and some teams like 1311 and 1002 (who have this regional in their backyard) haven't registered yet.

[ebarker]

1311 is registered for an out of town event for their primary regional. Smokey Mountains. We will be pursuing Chairman's there.

Georgia is having explosive FRC growth. Last year produced 18 new teams and they are all back for this year. Even though 5 or so rookies have registered this year that number may double.

Where will 1311's second regional be ? We do not know. Peachtree is going to be extremely tight. We may have to travel a long way to somewhere ? And things happening at the 'IC' will be really tough....

Where are the new regionals ? I wish we had the money, Hawaii would be nice. I'm digging that Luau....

EDIT: Of the 18 rookie teams in Georgia last year, 16 are returning.

[Mark McLeod]

New Regionals (not counting the Duluth doubling):

Week 1
Hub City Regional, Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, TX　 USA 28-Feb - 02-Mar-2013
Week 4

Central Washington Regional, Nicholson Pavillion Ellensburg, WA　 USA 21-Mar - 23-Mar-2013
Week 5

Inland Empire Regional, Coussoulis Arena San Bernardino, CA　 USA 28-Mar - 30-Mar-2013
Week 6

Western Canadian FRC Regional, The Olympic Oval Calgary, Alberta　 Canada 04-Apr - 06-Apr-2013
Razorback Regional, Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, AR　 USA 04-Apr - 06-Apr-2013
Crossroads Regional, Hulbert Arena Terre Haute, IN　 USA 04-Apr - 06-Apr-2013
Pine Tree Regional, Androscoggin Bank Colisée Lewiston, ME　 USA 04-Apr - 06-Apr-2013

[RoboMom]

Has anyone been able to determine which of the new Regionals will be NASA-funded, if any?

I see the application process opens tomorrow (Oct. 3) so I guess we'll find out then.

[Anupam Goli]

1311 is registered for an out of town event for their primary regional. Smokey Mountains. We will be pursuing Chairman's there.

Georgia is having explosive FRC growth. Last year produced 18 new teams and they are all back for this year. Even though 5 or so rookies have registered this year that number may double.

Where will 1311's second regional be ? We do not know. Peachtree is going to be extremely tight. We may have to travel a long way to somewhere ? And things happening at the 'IC' will be really tough....


i'm sure there are more rookies coming up, and they just need funding to pay.

As for regional ideas, Bayou isn't too bad of a drive, and if you want to take the week 1 gamble (I always see week 1's as gambles. you are part of the teams that decide the fate of the game) and go to Palmetto.

[dodar]

With the growth of FRC in the south, I forsee FIRST doing a new regional next year possibly in the panhandle of Florida or in Jacksonville. This would probably be a big ticket regional because you could pull teams from Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida.

[vhcook]

New Regionals (not counting the Duluth doubling):


Week 1
Regional Hub City Regional, Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, TX　 USA 28-Feb - 02-Mar-2013



Am I mistaken or is it really unusual to see a new regional in week 1?

[Pat Fairbank]

Am I mistaken or is it really unusual to see a new regional in week 1?
IIRC, the inaugural Alamo Regional in 2011 was Week 1. Also, Smoky Mountains last year.

[dodar]

IIRC, the inaugural Alamo Regional in 2011 was Week 1. Also, Smoky Mountains last year.

Actually smoky mountains began as a week 5 regional.

[Pat Fairbank]

Actually smoky mountains began as a week 5 regional.
Right you are; I forgot it was around in 2011.

[Mark McLeod]

I think 2003 Sacremento & 2005 Finger Lakes were both rookies and 1st week events.

[Fe_Will]

I think 2003 Sacremento & 2005 Finger Lakes were both rookies and 1st week events.

Sacramento was started in 2004 and was later in the season than week 1.

[Peyton Yeung]

Washington DC in 2009 i believe

[Doug G]

Sacramento was started in 2004 and was later in the season than week 1.

Sac started in 2003, I just can't remember which week, but it must have been early, it was before SVR and LA that year. Sac was actually in sac in 2003 and 2004, it moved to UC Davis in 2005. 2003 in sac was crazy because they only had 27 teams and after your match you had about 15 minutes before you had to get back in the cue.

[Nuttyman54]

Sacramento was started in 2004 and was later in the season than week 1.

254's 2003 SAC Chairman's (http://www2.usfirst.org/2003comp/events/SAC/awards.html) banner begs to differ, I can't vouch for the week though.

Edit: Doug beat me to it

[Mark McLeod]

More than 1600 teams now showing as registered (plus a guesstimated 40-50 hidden on waitlists). Last year only had 1307 teams showing (with a guesstimated waitlist of maybe 30 teams).

Last year's registration didn't reach 1600 until 8 days later.

Peachtree reached Initial Capacity.

More than 100 new teams.

I looked it up and SAC was in week 1 in 2003 (also confirmed DC in 2009).
So here's the list compiled from everyone's contributions of rookie regionals held the first week of competition:

2003 SAC
2005 Finger Lakes
2009 DC
2011 Alamo
2013 Hub City

[cpeister]

Sac started in 2003, I just can't remember which week, but it must have been early, it was before SVR and LA that year. Sac was actually in sac in 2003 and 2004, it moved to UC Davis in 2005. 2003 in sac was crazy because they only had 27 teams and after your match you had about 15 minutes before you had to get back in the cue.

Sounds like Waterloo. I believe it was 2009 when it fell on the Ontario march break, and had 27 teams.

[rsisk]

1311 is registered for an out of town event for their primary regional. Smokey Mountains. We will be pursuing Chairman's there.

Georgia is having explosive FRC growth. Last year produced 18 new teams and they are all back for this year. Even though 5 or so rookies have registered this year that number may double.

Where will 1311's second regional be ? We do not know. Peachtree is going to be extremely tight. We may have to travel a long way to somewhere ? And things happening at the 'IC' will be really tough....

Where are the new regionals ? I wish we had the money, Hawaii would be nice. I'm digging that Luau....

EDIT: Of the 18 rookie teams in Georgia last year, 16 are returning.

Ed, bring 1311 to Inland Empire, week 5!

[Fe_Will]

Sac started in 2003, I just can't remember which week, but it must have been early, it was before SVR and LA that year. Sac was actually in sac in 2003 and 2004, it moved to UC Davis in 2005. 2003 in sac was crazy because they only had 27 teams and after your match you had about 15 minutes before you had to get back in the cue.

Amazing they would allow a regional with so few teams, I stand corrected. We have a blue banner from Sac in 2004, what a fun event at the Cal Expo Center.

[MARS_James]

2003 in sac was crazy because they only had 27 teams and after your match you had about 15 minutes before you had to get back in the cue.

At South Florida last year there was 42 of us and our time in between most of our matches was 10 minutes due to us being sorted into matches with only 2 matches in between several times. What I mean is we had match 14 and 17, 28 and 31, 40 and 43, and 70 and 73. It was not enjoyable to take your robot of the field and have field volunteers immediately say you have to line back up, especially when we always were blue one match and red the next. Still tons of fun was had by all :D

[MARS_James]

Add Orlando to the list in the single digits with 47 teams registered we are down to 7 initial slots

[Mark McLeod]

There have been repositionings as a few teams have withdrawn from some events and moved to others.
Maybe due to nerves as events fill up so quickly.

I'd guesstimate that at least two Regionals are now showing in the single digits of maximum venue capacity. At least one has already assigned 6 slots past what was listed for Initial Capacity. Of course, waitpools for each event may have already made the allocation of remaining spots moot, just waiting on potential rookies, then HQ and the RD's to assign the remaining slots to teams waiting in the wings.

22% of Regional Events are at Initial Capacity (last year it was 11%, 6 Regionals + 1 District at this time):
Granite State (25) (week 1)
Boilermaker (30+1) (week 3)
Pittsburgh (30+6) (week 3)
WPI (32) (week 2)
LI (39) (week 7)
Silicon Valley (42+2) (week 6)
Oregon (54) (week 2)
Seattle (54+1) (week 5)
Waterloo (20) (week 4)
St. Louis (26) (week 3)
Phoenix (40) (week 4)
Midwest (43+1) (week 6)
Peachtree (46) (week 3)Events with Initial openings reduced to single digits (last year there were 2 Regionals + 5 Districts by this time):
(4) Boston
(4) Smoky Mountains
(6) Los Angeles
(7) Orlando
(7) Finger Lakes
(7) Razorback
(7) MAR Hatboro-Horsham
(8) 10000 Lakes
(9) MontrealP.S.
14 defunct veteran teams have resurfaced, the oldest having been away for 11 years (Hampton Bays High School here on Long Island).
36% of last year's teams have yet to re-register.
Really 26% are expected to show, since normally 10% of teams do not return the very next year.
Of course, it hasn't even been a week yet, so I'm just being impatient.

[emmell]

Mark:

I'd love to see your spreadsheet (or database) that tracks all this. That file must be worth its weight in gold.

Thanks for providing all this information for us.

[Mark McLeod]

It's electronic, so it's weight wouldn't bring much gold I'm sorry to say.
It's a mixture of spreadsheets and databases by this time. It's all in how you manipulate it. Some of the data is available in spreadsheet form on this page (http://www.team358.org/files/frc_records/index.php) if you want to fiddle with it yourself (payments in gold accepted).

P.S.
Boston reached Initial Capacity (24% of all Regionals are now waitlisted)

Here's a snapshot of how this year's registration stands up against previous seasons.
Note: dates used for the x-axis have been normalized across the years and aren't 2012 dates.

[kjohnson]

14 defunct veteran teams have resurfaced, the oldest having been away for 11 years (Hampton Bays High School here on Long Island).


Mark, can you list the other 10 teams?

[Mark McLeod]

1700 teams

I can post the resurrected vets list tomorrow.
I'll edit this post to add it here.

--------------------
Resurrected veteran teams
# --- yrs away --- Location

601 --- 11 --- Hampton Bays, NY
867 ---- 2 --- Arcadia, CA
981 ---- 2 --- Lebec, CA
1422 --- 7 --- Fresno, CA
1452 --- 3 --- Los Angeles, CA
1571 --- 2 --- Gresham, OR
1617 --- 3 --- Newark, NJ
2037 --- 3 --- Brunssum , Netherlands
2360 --- 3 --- Indianapolis, IN
2609 --- 2 --- Guelph, ON
3032 --- 4 --- Aracaju, SE Brazil
3368 --- 2 --- Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina
3684 --- 2 --- Seattle, WA
3829 --- 2 --- Soddy-Daisy, TN


This team registered, then disappeared. This might be because they switched to an event that was already at the waitlist stage.
668 ---- 2 --- San Jose, CA

----
These are the new veteran teams:
193 ---- Flanders, NJ
1790 --- Huntington Park, CA
2451 --- Saint Charles, IL (renumbered from 2949)
2685 --- Yonkers, NY

Estacado High School in Lubbock, TX originally registered as a new veteran team 1786 (split off from 1817), but has now been reassigned the rookie number 4570

[Akash Rastogi]

Mark you are awesome for doing this each year! I love seeing this data.

[Mark McLeod]

Smoky Mountain Regional is at Initial Capacity. That 26% of Regionals. No Districts yet.

Events close to Initial Capicity (12% of Regionals/6% of Districts):

(4) Razorback
(6) Hatboro-Horsham District
(6) 10000 Lakes
(2) Los Angeles
(8) North Carolina
(8) Montreal
(3) Orlando
(4) Finger LakesHere's a snapshot of FRC growth only a week into 2013 registration.

[ttldomination]

I'm interested to hear about how far past initial event capacities these numbers go.

Kind of disappointed that SMR closed up, but at 40 teams, that seems a little small, especially compared to what they were rocking last year.

- Sunny G.

[Mark McLeod]

Ever since it started Smoky Mountain could only accommodate 50 teams.
In 2010 Smoky Mtn was forced to ask for volunteers to free up spots for two rookies, so there wasn't a lot of leeway at the time.

[MARS_James]

I'm interested to hear about how far past initial event capacities these numbers go.

- Sunny G.

Orlando usually sets aside 10 spots for rookies or wait listed teams
While last year South Florida set aside 8

[IndySam]

Last year Smoky Mountain could only accommodate 50 teams.
In 2010 Smoky Mtn was forced to ask for volunteers to free up spots for two rookies.

There are already 7 rookies signed up for Smoky so I hope they release a bunch of spots. We would like to go again.

[MARS_James]

Is anyone else noticing a drop off of rookie teams in there area? Last year Florida had 26 rookies and this year we only have 4. The only big factor that I think could be the cause is JC Penny no longer sponsoring rookie am I wrong in thinking that or is it to early in registration to count out a mass influx of rookies?

[Mark McLeod]

Florida had 6 rookies by this time last year.
We have 132 new teams registered compared to 112 at this same time last year.

When making these comparisons, we can't compare early numbers from this year with the final number from last year. That particular cognitive bias skews our perceptions.

Rookies tend to sign up later, because it takes them awhile to organize for the first time, they don't start until September, and they have spots reserved at the local regional through December, so there isn't any rush.

[Mark McLeod]

Los Angeles Regional's reached the waitlist stage now.

Lake Superior entered the single digit stage (lost of room left at Northern Lights though).

[dodar]

The Orlando Regional is now down to just 1 open slot.

[Mark McLeod]

Here's a headcount:

Total teams / Rookies / Missing / Place

159 -- 11 -- 53 - CA
119 -- 7 --- 78 - MI
116 -- 6 --- 43 - MN
107 -- 5 --- 33 - NY
91 --- 11 -- 17 - WA
68 --- 3 --- 82 - TX
63 --- 7 --- 9 -- PA
56 --- 2 --- 10 - NJ
56 --- 4 --- 24 - FL
50 --- 1 --- 8 -- MA
48 --- 3 --- 22 - VA
47 --- 3 --- 14 - MO
47 --- 1 --- 10 - IL
42 --- 2 --- 8 -- OK
40 --- 2 --- 5 -- IN
40 --- 2 --- 3 -- CT
39 --- 2 --- 7 -- OR
39 --- 6 --- 13 - GA
39 --- 2 --- 7 -- AZ
37 --- 4 --- 46 - Canada-ON
36 --- 1 --- 21 - OH
31 --- 7 --- 3 -- TN
31 --- 2 --- 8 -- NC
31 --- 3 --- 4 -- Canada-QC
28 --- 4 --- 12 - MD
25 --- 1 --- 10 - WI
25 --- 3 --- 9 -- SC
20 --- 2 --- 22 - CO
19 --- 1 --- 12 - NH
16 --- ---- 4 --- KS
16 --- ---- 20 -- HI
16 --- 9 --- ---- AR
13 --- 1 --- 4 -- ID
12 --- 3 --- 1 -- ME
12 --- ---- 19 -- LA
9 ---- ---- 2 --- AL
8 ---- ---- 4 --- KY
7 ---- 1 --- 4 -- MS
7 ---- ---- 14 -- Mexico
7 ---- 1 --- 9 -- DC
6 ---- 1 --- 5 -- NV
6 ---- ---- 38 -- Israel
5 ---- ---- 1 --- Brazil
4 ---- ---- 1 --- RI
4 ---- ---- ----- IA
3 ---- ---- 1 --- WV
3 ---- ---- ----- VT
3 ---- ---- 15 -- UT
3 ---- ---- 2 --- Turkey
3 ---- ---- 3 --- NM
3 ---- ---- 3 --- MT
3 ---- 2 --- ---- Australia
2 ---- ---- 1 --- WY
2 ---- 1 --- ---- Netherlands
2 ---- ---- ----- AK
1 ---- ---- 1 --- United Kingdom
1 ---- ---- ----- PR
1 ---- ---- 1 --- ND
1 ---- ---- ----- Germany
1 ---- ---- ----- Dominican Republic
1 ---- ---- 1 --- DE
1 ---- ---- ----- Chile
1 ---- 1 --- ---- Canada-SK
1 ---- 1 --- ---- Canada-BC
1 ---- ---- 1 --- Canada-AB
1 ---- ---- ----- Bosnia

[Billfred]

I'm interested to hear about how far past initial event capacities these numbers go.

Kind of disappointed that SMR closed up, but at 40 teams, that seems a little small, especially compared to what they were rocking last year.

- Sunny G.
I'm getting concerned for us on 2815--we registered for Palmetto first, and now Peachtree, Orlando, and Smoky Mountains are at listed capacity with North Carolina in single digits with two and a half weeks until second regional registration.

Aside from going on the waitlist and crossing our fingers, North Carolina is our only real hope for not driving six hours to a regional:

Peachtree Regional (Week 3, 219 miles, 3h29m)
North Carolina Regional (Week 3, 235 miles, 3h53m)
Smoky Mountains Regional (Week 5, 264 miles, 4h17m)
Virginia Regional (Week 3, 373 miles, 6h15m)
Orlando Regional (Week 2, 430 miles, 7h14m)
Washington DC Regional (Week 5, 484 miles, 8h7m)
Chesapeake Regional (Week 7, 521 miles, 8h52m)
South Florida Regional (Week 5, 619 miles, 10h10m)
Crossroads Regional (Week 6, 688 miles, 11h4m)
Bayou Regional (Week 4, 689 miles, 11h10m)
(Distances are pulled from Google Maps, using 2815's shop and the address listed by FIRST.)

It might be close to time for a fifth regional in the NC/SC/GA/Eastern TN area--there's certainly no shortage of venues capable of hosting it. (Columbia and Clemson would be natural choices, as Colonial Life Arena and Littlejohn Coliseum have each hosted the Palmetto Regional in the past, but Greenville and Charlotte could be plausible as well.)

[Mark McLeod]

A lot of us are having that same concern.
I have a list just like yours heading in the southerly direction.
The Booster club is costing out the travel to a series of events.

Maybe we'll see you in North Carolina or Virginia.:rolleyes:

[Akash Rastogi]

Mark can you post what teams are missing so far from PA and NJ? I'd like to check up on a few of them and see if any need help.

[Mark McLeod]

Missing DE, NJ, PA teams.
There are some PA teams obviously from outside of MAR:

DE ---- 1370 ---- Middletown, DE

NJ ----- 136 ---- Plainfield, NJ
NJ ----- 219 ---- Washington, NJ
NJ ----- 752 ---- Newark, NJ
NJ ---- 1367 ---- Newark, NJ
NJ ---- 1791 ---- Clayton, NJ
NJ ---- 1881 ---- Paterson, NJ
NJ ---- 2554 ---- Edison, NJ
NJ ---- 4128 ---- Holmdel, NJ
NJ ---- 4347 ---- Paterson, NJ
NJ ---- 4361 ---- Succasunna, NJ

PA ----- 117 ---- Pittsburgh, PA
PA ----- 433 ---- Flourtown, PA
PA ---- 1743 ---- Pittsburgh, PA
PA ---- 2428 ---- Sewickley, PA
PA ---- 2618 ---- Pittsburgh, PA
PA ---- 3062 ---- Natrona Heights, PA
PA ---- 3504 ---- Pittsburgh, PA
PA ---- 3553 ---- Philadelphia, PA
PA ---- 4342 ---- Kennett Square, PA

[rsisk]

Mark can you post what teams are missing so far from PA and NJ? I'd like to check up on a few of them and see if any need help.

You might check with your señior mentor Nate and see if he has already contacted them. Combine forces for greater results

[Akash Rastogi]

You might check with your señior mentor Nate and see if he has already contacted them. Combine forces for greater results

Will do Sisk.

[Jefferson]

Total teams / Rookies / Missing / Place
16 --- 9 --- ---- AR


Savoring this brief moment in history.
:)

[Jon Stratis]

116 -- 6 --- 43 - MN


I heard this weekend that we're expecting 170+ teams in MN this year... And to think there were less than 20 teams in the state 6 years ago!

[ehochstein]

I heard this weekend that we're expecting 170+ teams in MN this year... And to think there were less than 20 teams in the state 6 years ago!
Which will smash past the number of varsity hockey teams in Minnesota ;)

[Anupam Goli]

It might be close to time for a fifth regional in the NC/SC/GA/Eastern TN area--there's certainly no shortage of venues capable of hosting it. (Columbia and Clemson would be natural choices, as Colonial Life Arena and Littlejohn Coliseum have each hosted the Palmetto Regional in the past, but Greenville and Charlotte could be plausible as well.)

Take these words with a grain of salt, but there has been talk of making a district system down here in a few years (this is a rumor) for the southern belt. A possibly more accurate rumor is that GA FIRST is working on getting a 2nd regional in Georgia, or splitting Peachtree into an east-west sort of deal that Greater Toronto has had. My money is on splitting Peachtree, as the majority of Georgia Teams are from the Greater Atlanta area. Of course, we're only talking nuts and bolts here, not actual $$ ;)

[Mark McLeod]

Registration is about 22% over last year at this time.
1780 teams, 142 new teams, 14 vets back from the dead.

Out-of-country trips:

Turkey -> Midwest
Taiwan -> Hawaii
Australia -> Hawaii
Bosnia -> Israel
Brazil -> NYC, Boston, Long Island, Orlando
Chile -> Los Angeles
Canada -> Seattle, Finger Lakes, NYC, Pittsburgh
Mexico -> Lone Star, Montreal, Phoenix, San Diego, South Florida, Western Canada
Great Britain -> NYC
Dominican Republic -> Orlando
Germany -> Orlando
Israel -> DC
Netherlands -> NC, Las Vegas
Puerto Rico -> Boilermaker
US -> Tor-West, Western Canada, Waterloo

[Stephi Rae]

Just something to start with, here are a couple of geographical time lapse looks at team growth each year since 1992.
They're in the form of a 21 year slide show.
Colors change to signify each event structure change, e.g., 1995: added a second event called Nationals, 2009:added the District system.
By the last slide Red is Championship, Blue are Regionals, Yellow are Districts, Green are District Championships, Purple are Teams.
Click through the slides or download and it should run automatically.

Close up of North America
(http://www.team358.org/files/frc_records/FRC_Growth-1992-2012.pdf)
World View (http://www.team358.org/files/frc_records/FRC_World_Growth-1992-2012.pdf)

I know this thread has been a lot of discussion about registration this year, but I find the Washington area really interesting in these slides you posted. Cool to visually see the jump in 2009 and then the explosion in 2011 and 2012. Maybe can give people from new Washington teams other locations an idea of how crazy fast things are growing in the Pacific Northwest. My first season with 1983 as rookies we went to Oregon and Las Vegas because there weren't many options nearby, and now there are 3 regionals in Washington state alone! Not to mention Oregon, which is still within driving distance from Seattle. It is impressive how much things have changed in just the 4 short years I was away for college.

[Bob Steele]

I know this thread has been a lot of discussion about registration this year, but I find the Washington area really interesting in these slides you posted. Cool to visually see the jump in 2009 and then the explosion in 2011 and 2012. Maybe can give people from new Washington teams other locations an idea of how crazy fast things are growing in the Pacific Northwest. My first season with 1983 as rookies we went to Oregon and Las Vegas because there weren't many options nearby, and now there are 3 regionals in Washington state alone! Not to mention Oregon, which is still within driving distance from Seattle. It is impressive how much things have changed in just the 4 short years I was away for college.

Steph,
I agree with you!! When we first started the team I believe that we were the 18th team in the state of Washington.... Last year we sent that same number to St. Louis as qualifiers and participants... I totally remember when, at most, there were 5-6 Washington teams at CMP.... this year we had 8 teams that made it into the elimination rounds with two teams in the semi-finals on their fields...amazing work by Kevin Ross... and everyone else in Washington....By the way... we miss you.... even if you are our "remote" mentor from the east coast...

Coach

[Billfred]

Take these words with a grain of salt, but there has been talk of making a district system down here in a few years (this is a rumor) for the southern belt. A possibly more accurate rumor is that GA FIRST is working on getting a 2nd regional in Georgia, or splitting Peachtree into an east-west sort of deal that Greater Toronto has had. My money is on splitting Peachtree, as the majority of Georgia Teams are from the Greater Atlanta area. Of course, we're only talking nuts and bolts here, not actual $$ ;)

I'm certain that we'll go districts someday; I'm just not sold on us having the density yet to pull it off.

Doing Peachtree East/West would go a long way towards opening spaces in the region, as Peachtree can hold 60 while most versions of Palmetto topped out in the upper 40s.

[jessss]

Which will smash past the number of varsity hockey teams in Minnesota ;)
Looks like we should be the state of robotics not the state of hockey :)

[Mark McLeod]

1800 teams.
300 teams or 20% or 10 days ahead of last year's mark.

That's almost matches the total teams (1808) in 2010.

[Mr. Van]

I'm getting concerned for us on 2815--we registered for Palmetto first, and now Peachtree, Orlando, and Smoky Mountains are at listed capacity with North Carolina in single digits with two and a half weeks until second regional registration.

Just checking... Isn't second regional registration tomorrow (Thursday Oct. 11th starting at Noon Eastern Time)?

- Mr. Van
Coach, Robodox

[MARS_James]

Just checking... Isn't second regional registration tomorrow (Thursday Oct. 11th starting at Noon Eastern Time)?

- Mr. Van
Coach, Robodox

Link to Calendar (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/calendar) It is second district event, second regional is the 25th

[Mr. Van]

AH! Thanks James!

(I'll leave this in the thread in case others were confused...)

- Mr. Van

[Mark McLeod]

2nd District & pre-qualified Championship registration began at noon ET.

Detroit District got put on an early waitlist right from the start with only 22 teams showing.

25 Michigan teams appeared.

MAR's Hatboro reached initial capacity by 12:20.

In the single digits are:
Traverse
Gull
West MI
Grand Blanc
Livonia
KetteringNow Traverse is at Initial Capacity (~ 12:40)

and joining the single digits are:
Springside
WaterfordLivonia has been closed (at 27 teams) @ 2pm
Gull Lake reached Initial Capacity ~3:45pm
West Michigan filled by the end of the day.

27 pre-qualified teams registered for Championship

[Mark McLeod]

More than 1900 teams.
21% over last year.

75% of last year's teams have re-registered so far.
8.4% of teams are new (163)
15 recovered teams

5 teams pre-qualified for Championships have not yet registered. Everyone else has.

Alberta rookies are popping up.

map (http://batchgeo.com/map/72217533bb068ec6452f4770fd12be47)

[GaryVoshol]

map (http://batchgeo.com/map/72217533bb068ec6452f4770fd12be47)
How did Dorr (Team 2000) get moved to the UP?

[Mark McLeod]

I mis-copied the coordinate.
I'll fix that.
They don't identify any location other than a town, so it's just a general coordinate.

Let me know of any others you may notice.

Thanks

[DonRotolo]

Here's a headcount:
Total teams / Rookies / Missing / Place
5 ---- ---- 1 --- Brazil

The team from Brazil that's "missing" (so far) lost its local J&J sponsorship and is very close to really having to drop out. I traded PMs with their lead mentor, urging him to ask for ideas here on CD, so I hope we get to see that soon.

[Mark McLeod]

Probably not halfway there with rookies yet, but here's where the 168 rookies are from so far:

Count -- Place
13 --- CA
13 --- WA
9 ---- AR
8 ---- PA
7 ---- MI
7 ---- MN
7 ---- TN
7 ---- TX
6 ---- FL
6 ---- GA
5 ---- Canada-AB
5 ---- Canada-ON
5 ---- NY
4 ---- Australia
4 ---- Canada-QC
4 ---- CO
4 ---- MD
4 ---- MO
4 ---- SC
3 ---- IN
3 ---- ME
3 ---- OH
3 ---- OK
3 ---- UT
3 ---- VA
2 ---- AZ
2 ---- CT
2 ---- Israel
2 ---- MA
2 ---- NC
2 ---- NJ
2 ---- OR
1 ---- Canada-BC
1 ---- Canada-SK
1 ---- DC
1 ---- ID
1 ---- IL
1 ---- Mexico
1 ---- MS
1 ---- Netherlands
1 ---- NH
1 ---- NV
1 ---- RI
1 ---- SD
1 ---- WI
1 ---- WY

and here is where they intend to play:
# ---- Event
10 --- AR
10 --- WA
7 ---- GA
7 ---- TN
6 ---- PIT
6 ---- W Canada
4 ---- CA
5 ---- CO
4 ---- FL
4 ---- HI
4 ---- MAR-Bridgewater
4 ---- MI-Gull
4 ---- Montreal
4 ---- SDC
4 ---- UT
3 ---- Alamo
3 ---- DC
3 ---- NC
3 ---- NY
3 ---- OK
3 ---- Pine Tree
3 ---- WAT
3 ---- SFL
2 ---- 10K
2 ---- AZ
2 ---- CT
2 ---- FLR
2 ---- Hub
2 ---- IN
2 ---- Inland
2 ---- IS
2 ---- KC
2 ---- Lake S
2 ---- LI
2 ---- MAR-Springside
2 ---- MD
2 ---- MI-Livonia
2 ---- MO
2 ---- Northern Lights
2 ---- OR
2 ---- SC
2 ---- SJC
2 ---- Spokane
2 ---- Tor-W
2 ---- TX
2 ---- VA
2 ---- WOR
1 ---- C WA
1 ---- Crossroads
1 ---- Dallas
1 ---- IL
1 ---- MA
1 ---- MAR-Hatboro
1 ---- MAR-Mt Olive
1 ---- MAR-TCNJ
1 ---- MI-Detroit
1 ---- MI-Waterford
1 ---- N Star
1 ---- NH
1 ---- NV
1 ---- OH
1 ---- Queen
1 ---- SAC
1 ---- Tor-E
1 ---- WI

[Mark McLeod]

2000 teams

[Racer26]

Of note: 1482 and 4334 from Calgary, AB (the only western Canada vets), aren't yet registered for the new Western Canada regional.

[BigJ]

Of note: 1482 and 4334 from Calgary, AB (the only western Canada vets), aren't yet registered for the new Western Canada regional.

Assuming they registered elsewhere, it is a common tactic to not sign up first for a regional that you're pretty sure you'll get in for second registration :)

[Siri]

Assuming they registered elsewhere, it is a common tactic to not sign up first for a regional that you're pretty sure you'll get in for second registration :)But 1482 isn't registered for a 2013 regional and has only ever attended one per year.

[rsisk]

But 1482 isn't registered for a 2013 regional and has only ever attended one per year.

Sounds like someone in the area needs to reach out to them

[Kpchem]

Of note: 1482 and 4334 from Calgary, AB (the only western Canada vets), aren't yet registered for the new Western Canada regional.

4334 is currently registered for the now-full Seattle Regional.

[lemiant]

Our plan is to register for Seattle, Central Washington, and Western Canada in that order. We are doing this because we want to register for the regionals which are filling up first.
I can't imagine 1482 folding, I have many friends leading that team and they seem to think the season is still on track. Additionally they are and always have been a well-funded team with a budget upwards of 20K, which should last much better now that they don't have to travel. I'll send an email over to their coach anyways.

- Alex

[Racer26]

I fully expected that's what ATA was doing, since I know they were instrumental in the creation of the western Canada regional on such a short schedule, it would be odd for 4334 not to compete there.

1482 is interesting though. Not sure what their historical registration timing looks like though. They could just have a habit of registering late. Additionally, having a home regional might finally allow 1482 to join the ranks of the 2 regional teams.

EDIT: Also, Ontario will miss you, 4334. Best of luck in 2013.

REEDIT: I wonder if any ON/QC teams will take the plunge and head out to Calgary to tango with all our new Canadian rookies.

[Mark McLeod]

1482 registered last year on October 21.
In 2010 they didn't register until late November.

[rondinol]

Don't quote me on this but I heard Australia established or is establishing another team. I tried looking but I couldn't find where I first saw it.

[mwmac]

1482 is now registered for the Western Canadian regional.

[Nate Laverdure]

Who's next-- should we go consecutively? :)

[Mark McLeod]

In the category of most unloved Regionals, or events that need to be shown some love come 2nd Regional registration this week...
(This uses Initial Capacity values and cutoff events that have fewer than 20 slots open)


Filled- Current - Capacity --- Regional ------------------ Week
11.1% ------ 4 ----- 36 ----- Central Valley Regional ---------- 1
16.0% ------ 8 ----- 50 ----- Las Vegas Regional -------------- 6
18.2% ------ 8 ----- 44 ----- Hub City Regional ---------------- 1
18.5% ----- 10 ----- 54 ----- Greater Toronto West Regional - 5
21.1% ------ 8 ----- 38 ----- Pine Tree Regional --------------- 6
23.7% ------ 9 ----- 38 ----- Spokane Regional ---------------- 6
25.0% ----- 13 ----- 52 ----- Buckeye Regional ---------------- 5
33.3% ----- 18 ----- 54 ----- South Florida Regional ---------- 5
35.0% ----- 14 ----- 40 ----- Inland Empire Regional --------- 5
37.5% ----- 12 ----- 32 ----- Greater Toronto East Regional -- 2
40.7% ----- 22 ----- 54 ----- Wisconsin Regional -------------- 4
40.7% ----- 22 ----- 54 ----- Chesapeake Regional ------------ 7
41.7% ----- 20 ----- 48 ----- Queen City Regional ------------- 4
44.7% ----- 17 ----- 38 ----- Western Canadian FRC Regional - 6
46.7% ----- 21 ----- 45 ----- Israel Regional ------------------- 2
47.4% ----- 18 ----- 38 ----- Crossroads Regional ------------- 6
47.6% ----- 20 ----- 42 ----- Central Washington Regional ---- 4
51.9% ----- 28 ----- 54 ----- Lone Star Regional --------------- 2
56.0% ----- 28 ----- 50 ----- Bayou Regional ------------------- 4
57.4% ----- 31 ----- 54 ----- Washington DC Regional --------- 5
59.3% ----- 32 ----- 54 ----- Alamo Regional ------------------- 5


One third of Regionals (the overly lovable ones) are waitlisted.
One half of Districts are so loved.
Only two districts have double digit vacancies (10 each)

P.S.
We now have more teams registered than competed in 2011.
209 new teams
21% of last season's teams are still missing (494 teams). Expect that to at least be cut in half.

[SteveGarward]

Don't quote me on this but I heard Australia established or is establishing another team. I tried looking but I couldn't find where I first saw it.

As of today, Australia has 4 new teams, making a total of 5 registered! It has taken a while, but this is great news. I'm hoping for a couple more even this season.

[Racer26]

I recall mention of an Australian regional in the works too...

[ehochstein]

I recall mention of an Australian regional in the works too...

I wouldn't expect one this year by any means... But maybe next year or two years from now! Hell, I'd love to travel to Australia for a regional, I would be signing up to volunteer at it right away!

[Racer26]

I seem to recall mention of it being planned for the '14 or '15 season.

Maybe I'm wrong though.

I'm astounded we have a West Canada one this year. 4334 really pushed hard for it. Way to go guys. From 1992 to 2012, there were a grand total of 3 teams to my knowledge from Canadian provinces west of Ontario. They were:

1346 Trobotics, from Vancouver, Rookies in 2004, Defunct after 2010.
1482 The Ghosts, from Calgary, Rookies in 2004
4334 Alberta Tech Alliance, from Calgary, Rookies in 2012.

Now, for 2013, there's a bunch of Western Canada rookies to help fill the new regional, hailing from BC, SK, and AB.

[Mark McLeod]

Also,
1486 Calgary, last played 2005
1570 Vancouver, last played 2009
1870 Red Deer, last played 2008
2273 Surrey, last played 2008P.S.
2100 teams (vs. 1783 this same time last year)
Almost 18% growth at this point.

[Racer26]

Hm.

Looks like I just missed 1486,1570, and 1870 since they all played in Toronto at least once.

2273 I understand how I missed, since they only played in the PNW region, where I admittedly don't pay as much attention.

Regardless, to spawn a new event in a region with 2 active and 5 inactive teams, in such a short time is impressive.

[Taylor]

21% of last season's teams are still missing (494 teams). Expect that to at least be cut in half.

We're waitlisted for our event, so we're not showing up in the "Who's in your area" for 2013. Would we (and teams like us) be part of that Martians-many teams?

[Mark McLeod]

We're waitlisted for our event, so we're not showing up in the "Who's in your area" for 2013. Would we (and teams like us) be part of that Martians-many teams?
Yes, I'm including you on the Boilermaker waitlist, and teams like you on other waitlists, in that number of missing.
We have ~10 teams hidden here on the Long Island waitlist that I know of too who aren't yet counted.

There are 80 teams total on waitlists (derived from the FRC Blog), probably all returning veteran teams, since rookies tend to be passed right through.
If so, then there are 383 teams currently missing from last season. That's about 16%.
I expect that of those missing teams 140-160 will still show up.

[dtengineering]

Hm.

Looks like I just missed 1486,1570, and 1870 since they all played in Toronto at least once.



Yes, lots of teams from the west have a long history of flying back east for events. Here's hoping that we'll see a few teams fly out west for a change! :)

Jason

[waialua359]

As of today, Australia has 4 new teams, making a total of 5 registered! It has taken a while, but this is great news. I'm hoping for a couple more even this season.

We were told that although 4 new Australia rookie teams have registered, it may only be 3 with the 1 veteran 3132 for this season.

If Australia ever has a new regional, you can be sure at least 1 Hawaii team will be there.;)

[PVCpirate]

Looks like Australia might become the next Israel. Good to see FRC becoming established in new areas.

[Racer26]

@dtengineering: Any chance we're going to see 1346 come back from the dead thanks to the WestCanada Regional?

[dtengineering]

@dtengineering: Any chance we're going to see 1346 come back from the dead thanks to the WestCanada Regional?

In a word, no. The team had a good run of it, and has a lasting legacy in the ever-growing population of VEX teams here in BC, but retirements and new job opportunities have led to an 80%+ turnover in the tech studies teaching staff over the past three years.

I have to add that the funding and staffing policies that the BC government has directed towards K-12 education over the past decade or so have not helped teachers to have the free time, resources, or energy to undertake major projects.

The cool part is that while 1346 won't be back, we carefully stored away some significant resources to aid any new BC teams. So maybe a little bit of 1346 will make it's way out to Calgary one day, if only in spirit.

Jason

[Mark McLeod]

Here is a map (http://batchgeo.com/map/8609ea5e7bfafea5ef7f3fcb7f0e09ee) of last season's teams that still don't show up on the registered rolls.
~80 of them (almost 20%) are hidden on event waitlists, while others are in no rush to sign up, so there's no immediate worry, but 200+ of these teams probably won't return this year for a variety of reasons.

[lynca]

Here is a map (http://batchgeo.com/map/8609ea5e7bfafea5ef7f3fcb7f0e09ee) of last season's teams that still don't show up on the registered rolls.

This is a terrific resource. Thanks !

I'm going to ask around and try to follow up with some of the Houston teams that have not registered yet.

[kiasam111]

As a member of 3132, I get chills down my spine when I see the new teams on the FIRST website. It is SOO FANTASTIC to not be alone!!!!!! If you check out the FIRST website, there is us, another 2 Sydney teams, a Melbourne team and an Adelaide team, and to be honest, it wouldn't suprise me if there was another 1 or 2. We will all be travelling to Hawaii for the regional there, so there isn't a regional Down Under this year. We did, however, run an off season event, where 3 of the 4 rookie teams had a go.

Don't quote me on it, but there may be another 2 teams from Auckland, New Zealand as well. Not sure which regional they would go to, but most likely Hawaii.

I really look forward to the day where we won't be alone in Australia, but will be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with fellow Australians at our own regional, and with others from afar.

We were told that although 4 new Australia rookie teams have registered, it may only be 3 with the 1 veteran 3132 for this season.

If Australia ever has a new regional, you can be sure at least 1 Hawaii team will be there.;)

[Mark McLeod]

Granite State cleared 8 teams from their pool of waiting teams in one lump.

[kiasam111]

We were told that although 4 new Australia rookie teams have registered, it may only be 3 with the 1 veteran 3132 for this season.

If Australia ever has a new regional, you can be sure at least 1 Hawaii team will be there.;)

I'm a member of 3132. Whenever I think about the 4 new teams that have been established in Australia, I get shivers down my spine. To think that we were the only team just a few short months ago is incredible. We have 2 new teams in Sydney, a team from Melbourne and a team from Adelaide, and it wouldn't suprise me if there was another 1 or 2. On top of this, I hear there may be another 2 teams from Auckland in New Zealand. All the Australian teams will be travelling to the Hawaii Regional. I am SO excited to even think about the prospect of being there. To stand in that stadium with pride, pride of being Australian. To think that we won't be the only ones from the land Down Under.

As I said before, we are going to Hawaii. This, of course, means no regional. We did, however, have a off season event, the "Duel Down Under" and 3 of the 4 new teams competed there, with the other one hosting the event at their school.

When we get our very own regional, just the thought of American teams coming excites me =D We would LOVE to have you guys here =D And if it desn't happen in 2014, we will always have the Duel Down Under =D

=D

[IndySam]

When are the saved rookie spots usually released?

[Mark McLeod]

After 2nd Regional event registration opened...

8 veteran teams and 4 rookies appeared on the registration rolls in the two hours after noon.

64% (43% before noon) of all events, Regional & Districts, are now full - at waitlist status.
~64% (38% before noon) of Regionals are full (36)
~75% (same) of Districts are full (12)

Close events filled quickly, some within seconds.
Other events still see teams dribbling in.

[Mark McLeod]

Here are the open events:

Remaining ------- Event
Initial Capacity

----- Week 1
27 ---- Hub City Regional
11 ---- Central Valley Regional
　
----- Week 2
11 ---- Greater Toronto East Regional
15 ---- Lone Star Regional
21 ---- Israel Regional
　
----- Week 3
2 ----- Festival de Robotique FRC a Montreal Regional
1 ----- Virginia Regional
　
----- Week 4
12 ---- Bayou Regional
8 ----- Queen City Regional
2 ----- Utah Regional
2 ----- Wisconsin Regional
　
----- Week 5
35 --- Greater Toronto West Regional
4---- Inland Empire Regional
3 ----- Washington DC Regional
15 ---- South Florida Regional
16 ---- Buckeye Regional
2 ----- Oklahoma Regional
1 ----- Alamo Regional
　
----- Week 6
18 ----- Western Canadian FRC Regional
1 ----- Colorado Regional
3 ----- Hawaii Regional
5 ----- Pine Tree Regional
25 ---- Las Vegas Regional
8 ----- Spokane Regional
　
----- Week 7
4 ----- Chesapeake Regional
　
----- Districts
2 ----- St Joseph District
1 ----- TCNJ District
1 ----- Springside - Chestnut Hill M.A.R. District
5 ----- Mount Olive M.A.R. District
7 ----- Lenape Seneca District

[Mark McLeod]

When are the saved rookie spots usually released?
It varies by event/Regional Director and each year is a little different.
Once they all cleared before 2nd Regional registration opened, but I only remember that happening the one time.

I'll take a look and report back.

P.S.
It looks like Palmetto has released it's waitlisted teams.

[TheNightviz]

Team 3255 will be attending two regional events for the first time this year!
First off we will be in San Diego and later we will be at Inland Empire! Can't wait to see everyone there!

[z_beeblebrox]

4183 will be in Arizona. We are wait-listed for San Diego. If that doesn't work, we will go to Las Vegas.

[rsisk]

Team 3255 will be attending two regional events for the first time this year!
First off we will be in San Diego and later we will be at Inland Empire! Can't wait to see everyone there!

Code Orange and the T-Birds will be at IE also.... Will we see a repeat of SD 2012?

[kiasam111]

Sorry about the double post... I thought it had posted already so I posted again.. derpy me =P

[399thegeneral]

Code Orange and the T-Birds will be at IE also.... Will we see a repeat of SD 2012?

Not if Team 399 has anything to say about it! ;)

[Mark McLeod]

Over 2200 teams now.
17% growth over last year at this time.

237 total initial capacity Regional slots remain up for grabs.
22 total initial capacity District slots are still available (several Districts reduced initial capacity).

69 slots over and above Initial Capacity have been released to waitlisted teams (mostly rookies).

11 Regionals show double digit vacancies
6 5 Regionals are in the low single digits
4 MAR Districts are low single digit vacancies (MI plays these things closer to the chest)

Hope isn't lost if you have your heart set on an event you aren't in yet.
Remember, there are reserved spots released to waitlisted teams after FIRST HQ is satisfied all the rookies likely to show up in an area have been assigned a place. Especially those events that were last to fill. They probably all will have slots available for a while longer.
Talk to the Regional Director to see what your chances are.

[Mark McLeod]

Here are where District-system teams have signed up to play outside at a Regional, too.

Michigan teams playing out-of-MI
(3) WI
(2) OH
(1) Northern Lights
(1) Queen
(1) South FLMAR teams playing out-of-MAR
(2) MD
(2) DC
(2) VA
(1) NV
(1) NYC
(1) SC------------------
Number of teams attending multiple events (including Districts, but not Championship):
(17) Teams attending 3 Events - 1%
(648) Teams attending 2 Events - 29%
(1561) Teams attending 1 Event - 70%Random numbers:
257 new teams (including 2 new "vets")
382 teams missing from last season
17 resurrected veteran teams
2 teams from last season that came back with new numbers

[TrevorJ]

Michigan teams playing out-of-MI
(3) WI
(2) OH
(1) Northern Lights
(1) Queen
(1) South FL

Last I heard, Michigan is going to be pretty tight this year when it comes to extra spots. This is supported by data. Last season 190 teams competed in Michigan, which left just 20 spots open for a team to attend a third district event. Since Michigan is not adding an 11th district at the moment, there could actually be scenarios where Michigan has a few districts overbooked. I would expect the lack of the possibility of a third event to push more teams out of state when looking for additional practice time. It wouldn't surprise me if this list grows quite a bit.

Also, I don't usually pay attention to out of state registration, but is this an abnormally small number of second regional slots open? It seems like many more teams would have interest (and financial capability) to compete in a second regional than slots available.

[Mark McLeod]

When are the saved rookie spots usually released?
Most of last year's events began releasing the waitlists around the beginning of November. The earliest on October 28 or so, and others scattered through the first couple of weeks of November with a lot coming on November 9. Some (DC, San Diego, Kansas City, Silicon Valley, and more) didn't clear theirs until the week before Christmas.
Here are last year's charts by event if you want to see for yourself: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=12944&d=1345570471 (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=12944&d=1345570471) Mass waitlist releases are marked by sharp upticks.

It looks like FIRST HQ is relinquishing some slots to waitlisted veterans, but in most cases not all yet by any means.
So far, only a handful of Regionals have released reserve slots to veteran teams. Of particular double-digit note: GSR, Palmetto, Pittsburgh.

Here are the releases so far. (the -number are the slots released over and above Initial Capacity)
These numbers include rookies and veterans.

Week 1
-15 ---- BAE Systems Granite State Regional
-2 ----- Finger Lakes Regional
-11 ---- Palmetto Regional

Week 2
-8 ----- San Diego Regional
-1 ----- Orlando Regional
-3 ----- WPI Regional
-1 ----- Northern Lights Regional
-1 ----- New York City Regional

Week 3
-6 ----- Peachtree Regional
-3 ----- Boilermaker Regional
-7 ----- St. Louis Regional
-1 ----- North Carolina Regional
-12 ---- Pittsburgh Regional
-1 ----- Virginia Regional

Week 4
-9 ----- Waterloo Regional
-3 ----- Phoenix Regional
-2 ----- Sacramento Regional
-2 ----- Los Angeles Regional
-1 ----- Boston Regional

Week 5
-1 ----- Inland Empire Regional
-2 ----- Washington DC Regional
-1 ----- Minnesota 10000 Lakes Regional
-4 ----- Smoky Mountain Regional
-1 ----- Alamo Regional
-7 ----- Seattle Regional

Week 6
-5 ----- Razorback Regional
-4 ----- Silicon Valley Regional
-1 ----- Hawaii Regional
-6 ----- Midwest Regional
-1 ----- Crossroads Regional
-3 ----- SBPLI Long Island Regional


Districts
-1 ----- Kettering District
-4 ----- Traverse City District
-1 ----- Gull Lake District
-1 ----- Grand Blanc District
-5 ----- Detroit District

[Mark McLeod]

Also, I don't usually pay attention to out of state registration, but is this an abnormally small number of second regional slots open? It seems like many more teams would have interest (and financial capability) to compete in a second regional than slots available.
This year there are 36% fewer open slots (189 vs 297) than at this same time last year.
The distribution of those open slots, i.e. Calgary/Israel, also don't necessarily match the FRC population centers.

P.S.
Teams choosing second events are only up <6%, while team numbers increased 18%. Meaning there are just fewer open slots for the number of teams showing up this year. It's not an increase in teams seeking a second event (or third in the case of District teams).

[jeremy callahan]

OK, so we still have lots of time yet but as we are getting closer i am getting more pumped from teams signed up now (partically in michigan) any tournaments stand out to you guys think might be tough? or easy? or somes we might want to take a trip to see? Also any thoughts on this new rule with teams having to play in there home tournaments unless you want to wait it out. any thoughts?

[Mark McLeod]

I checked Michigan teams from last season, and 28 of them went to 3rd or 4th events (not counting State Championship or World Championship).
This includes 3rd MI Districts, as well as outside Regionals.

[Gregor]

I checked Michigan teams from last season, and 28 of them went to 3rd or 4th events (not counting State Championship or World Championship).
This includes 3rd MI Districts, as well as outside Regionals.

How many teams went to 4 events excluding state & world championship?

[Mark McLeod]

How many teams went to 4 events excluding state & world championship?

3 Michigan teams (all from Grandville high school).

[Mark McLeod]

Crossed the 2300 team point yesterday at 4pm.
~18% ahead of last year's growth.
Now we're only 34 teams away from last year's 2339.

26% of Regionals and 19% of Districts still show Initial space.
Several Regionals look to be at or very, close to what their max capacity probably is.
Palmetto added a bunch more teams off their waitlist.
Waterloo freed up some, too.

[IndySam]

With today being free-for-all day. It would be real nice if more regionals would clear some of their waiting lists before noon today.

[Jimmy Nichols]

With today being free-for-all day. It would be real nice if more regionals would clear some of their waiting lists before noon today.

Would be, but many have to wait for unregistered veterans and rookies. I know in Ohio we have 7 Veteran teams who have not registered for their initial event. Myself and the RD have been in touch with them and most are still trying to decide. We also have 6 pre-rookies who have temp numbers and have not registered for an initial event.

I'm sure most other states are in similar situations.

[Mark McLeod]

Unrestricted registration:
The biggest openings (double-digits remaining) are at: Hub City, Israel, Greater Totonto West, Las Vegas

About 34 teams signed up for more events in the first half hour.

Queen City reached Initial capacity.
Several others are 1 or 2 away.

3075 event slots have been assigned.

[Travis Hoffman]

48 is in at Crossroads, registered for both Queen City and Buckeye, and on the waitlist at NYC. One of NYC, Queen City, and Buckeye will be dropped dependent on what happens when NYC clears its waitlist. Allegedly we are near the top of the veteran portion of that waitlist. We'll see!

[Doug G]

701 signed up for Central Valley, CA regional this morning. We are going to try 3 regionals (CVR, SVR, COL) for the first time in our 13 year history! Should be a hoot!

[Ultimatum]

3501 is signed up for Central Valley week 1 and Silicon Valley week 6. Looking forward to the stiff competition that these will bring!

[Mark McLeod]

Central Valley and Lone Star have both reached Initial Capacity.

(4) Double-digit Regionals
(9) Single-digit Regionals
(3) Single-digit MAR DistrictsP.S.
While the overall registration rate is up 18% this year, the rate of rookie team registration is closely matching what happened last year (278 today vs 282 a year ago at this same time).
So the advance is almost totally due to veterans registering sooner.

[Racer26]

Anybody know what actual Capacity is for Montreal? I notice its already got more teams than competed there last year.

[Jon Stratis]

P.S.
While the overall registration rate is up 18% this year, the rate of rookie team registration is closely matching what happened last year (278 today vs 282 a year ago at this same time).
So the advance is almost totally due to veterans registering sooner.

Would that be veterans registering sooner, or a higher rate of return of veteran teams? How does the current rate of return of veteran teams compare to previous years?

[scottandme]

Anybody know what actual Capacity is for Montreal? I notice its already got more teams than competed there last year.

The venue is certainly big enough, they had an FLL event running at the same time last year. There was a ton of space left over in the pits, and seating was all portable bleachers, so I'm guessing they could always add a couple more rows. Hosting 50+ teams in the future doesn't seem unreasonable to me if they work on the seating a bit.

It probably comes down to their planning committee and what they feel comfortable with. Send them an email and ask.

[Mark McLeod]

Would that be veterans registering sooner, or a higher rate of return of veteran teams? How does the current rate of return of veteran teams compare to previous years?
Not yet.

We're still under last year's veteran return rate by about 3%.
88% vs 91% last year

Resurrected veterans are at about 9.5% so far vs last year's final 13.6%, so that's not it either.

P.S.
I don't think this is unusual activity. I just hadn't noticed that the arc of registration is greater each year primarily due to the previous year's rookies signing up fast rather than the slower, steady pace of newly organizing rookie teams.
It means the arc is very predictable.

[Mark McLeod]

Officially acknowledged teams now stand at 2339.
That matches last seasons total teams, so we're at the break even point so to speak.

[Racer26]

The venue is certainly big enough, they had an FLL event running at the same time last year. There was a ton of space left over in the pits, and seating was all portable bleachers, so I'm guessing they could always add a couple more rows. Hosting 50+ teams in the future doesn't seem unreasonable to me if they work on the seating a bit.

It probably comes down to their planning committee and what they feel comfortable with. Send them an email and ask.

The portable seating they used at Montreal last year made watching an absolute nightmare. The rise of the seating per row was nowhere near steep enough, resulting in being unable to see over the heads of the people in front of you/at the scoring table. I watched from the very back row of the seating, and even there, the field was barely visible, and I found myself watching the video screen, which I could have done from home.

I talked about that problem with Mark Breadner at the event, and he said that they knew, and it was going to be addressed for 2013.

Being totally honest, I don't think Stade Uniprix is really the best venue Montreal has to offer for an FRC event. I would think that a QMJHL hockey arena or maybe McGill's athletic complex would be superior. (GTRWest has been played in an OHL hockey arena since its inception, and GTREast/Waterloo/FLR are in university athletic arenas) The actual stadium part of Stade Uniprix is an open-air stadium adjacent to the indoor tennis facility FRC used last year.

[Mark McLeod]

States with > 99 teams
These 6 states account for almost 40% of FRC teams.

CA ----- 208
MI ----- 186
MN ---- 161
NY------ 136
TX ----- 116
WA ---- 110

Canada taken as a whole has 127, Ontario is leading the provinces with 77.


----------------------------
(Growth is over final 2012 numbers, so this also includes resurrected vets from earlier years)

Growth ---- State/Country
700.0% ---- Canada-AB
600.0% ---- Australia
200.0% ---- Netherlands
183.3% ---- AR
100.0% ---- Dominican Republic
100.0% ---- SD
100.0% ---- Canada-SK
100.0% ---- Canada-BC
100.0% ---- Bosnia
46.2% ----- TN
30.0% ----- ME
28.6% ----- Mexico
25.0% ----- IA
20.0% ----- RI
14.6% ----- WA
9.2% ------ PA
7.8% ------ CA
7.3% ------ CT
6.8% ------ NJ
6.5% ------ SC
5.6% ------ UT
5.2% ------ MN
3.8% ------ NY
2.4% ------ IN
2.3% ------ OR
2.3% ------ AZ
0.0% ------ AL
0.0% ------ MA
0.0% ------ OK
0.0% ------ GA
0.0% ------ MD
0.0% ------ WI
0.0% ------ Canada-QC
0.0% ------ KS
0.0% ------ DC
0.0% ------ Brazil
0.0% ------ WV
0.0% ------ WY
0.0% ------ VT
0.0% ------ United Kingdom
0.0% ------ ND
0.0% ------ DE
0.0% ------ AK
0.0% ------ Taiwan
0.0% ------ PR
0.0% ------ Germany
0.0% ------ Chile
-0.5% ----- MI
-1.3% ----- Canada-ON
-1.5% ----- VA
-3.3% ----- NH
-3.6% ----- OH
-3.6% ----- IL
-5.2% ----- MO
-5.4% ----- NC
-6.3% ----- ID
-6.7% ----- FL
-10.0% ---- MS
-15.0% ---- CO
-19.4% ---- LA
-20.0% ---- NV
-20.0% ---- Turkey
-21.6% ---- TX
-22.7% ---- Israel
-25.0% ---- KY
-27.8% ---- HI
-33.3% ---- NM
-50.0% ---- MT

[Gary Dillard]

Growth numbers from 2012? AL shows 110% but has 11 teams this year and had 11 teams last year - is someone hiding somewhere? Also, technically the same number of teams would be zero percent growth, correct?

Sorry to nitpick - I love your stats Mark.

[Mark McLeod]

Growth numbers from 2012? AL shows 110% but has 11 teams this year and had 11 teams last year - is someone hiding somewhere? Also, technically the same number of teams would be zero percent growth, correct?

Yea, sorry it was poorly phrased/presented. I'll correct it.
I should have subtracted 100%.
The exceptions are a half dozen places that had 0 teams last year.

The AL count is a sort mistake on my part. One AL team at the very top of the sort got left out of the subtotal count.

I'll fix the numbers.

[Mark McLeod]

Sorry to nitpick - I love your stats Mark.
I actually appreciate the nitpicks, keep them coming.:)
I much prefer to have someone double-check my numbers for silly mistakes like the ones you pointed out. Especially, as I'm doing some of this by candlelight right now and can't easily double-check myself.

[lynca]

States with > 99 teams
These 6 states account for almost 40% of FRC teams.

CA ----- 208
MI ----- 186
MN ---- 161
NY------ 136
TX ----- 116
WA ---- 110

Growth ---- State/Country
14.6% ----- WA
7.8% ------ CA
3.8% ------ NY
5.2% ------ MN
-0.5% ----- MI
-21.6% ---- TX


Mark, These numbers are great and just as I feared, Texas is bleeding teams.

[Jon Stratis]

Minnesota has officially gone over 170 teams as of today... Which means we've exceeded the "170 target" I had heard about!

[Akash Rastogi]

Mark, These numbers are great and just as I feared, Texas is bleeding teams.

Do you think it's mostly due to jcp pulling out or are there other factors?

[Mark McLeod]

Mark, These numbers are great and just as I feared, Texas is bleeding teams.

Apples to Oranges Apple halves? :)

This is a snapshot, so for a valid comparison to draw those kinds of conclusions, you have to compare the Texas numbers from comparable dates.

Last year on this date, Texas showed a -32.6% growth over the previous year, so this is actually 11% better than that.
The actual registration numbers for Texas on comparible dates are 2012: 97 teams vs 2013: 117 teams (currently ~20% growth), but remember this higher spurt is just last year's rookie teams registering earlier than they did last year.

P.S.
I could give growth over last year at this same time for every place.

This is a comparison of registration on the same date last year.
Only a few places have fallen behind last year's rate of registration.

Growth ---- State
1500.0% --- Canada-AB
600.0% ---- Australia
240.0% ---- Israel
200.0% ---- United Kingdom
200.0% ---- Netherlands
112.5% ---- AR
111.1% ---- TN
107.7% ---- Mexico
100.0% ---- Taiwan
100.0% ---- Dominican Republic
100.0% ---- SD
100.0% ---- Canada-SK
100.0% ---- Canada-BC
100.0% ---- Bosnia
66.7% ----- Brazil
50.0% ----- RI
50.0% ----- VT
35.7% ----- UT
34.0% ----- PA
30.0% ----- ME
26.0% ----- NJ
25.0% ----- IA
24.8% ----- MN
22.2% ----- SC
19.6% ----- TX
18.5% ----- Canada-ON
18.4% ----- AZ
17.9% ----- GA
17.0% ----- WA
17.0% ----- MO
12.5% ----- KY
12.4% ----- NY
12.0% ----- MI
11.2% ----- CA
9.4% ------ MD
9.4% ------ NC
9.4% ------ FL
8.7% ------ LA
8.3% ------ HI
8.2% ------ VA
8.0% ------ IL
7.7% ------ MA
7.1% ------ DC
6.3% ------ CO
5.9% ------ OH
4.9% ------ IN
4.8% ------ CT
4.8% ------ OR
3.6% ------ NH
2.2% ------ OK
0.0% ------ AL
0.0% ------ WI
0.0% ------ Canada-QC
0.0% ------ KS
0.0% ------ WV
0.0% ------ WY
0.0% ------ ND
0.0% ------ DE
0.0% ------ AK
0.0% ------ PR
0.0% ------ Germany
0.0% ------ Chile
0.0% ------ NM
-6.3% ------ ID
-10.0% ---- MS
-11.1% ---- NV
-20.0% ---- Turkey
-25.0% ---- MT

[Mark McLeod]

Here's a map of the 2013 Rookie teams to date (http://batchgeo.com/map/1fc7f4d6e73fc8afa7b47448ab26a4ce).

[Littleboy]

No new Hawaiian teams? That is sad. How many teams normally form after this date? (How many total teams form later than this date 1 year ago?)

[Mark McLeod]

No new Hawaiian teams? That is sad. How many teams normally form after this date? (How many total teams form later than this date 1 year ago?)
310 teams joined after this date last year.
That includes returning veteran teams as well as new rookie teams.

Just rookies after this date last year were 141 of those teams, almost half.

These numbers are in terms of teams that actually stayed around and played. I'm not counting teams that formed, registered, but then dropped out before any competition.

[Jon Stratis]

I was just checking out MN... we have a 99.3% return rate from last year (only 1 team hasn't registered this year... with 2 months until kickoff, I'm still holding out hope!), and 25 rookies. I am constantly amazed at the job some of the local FIRST staff and volunteers do to keep our state engaged!

[ehochstein]

I was just checking out MN... we have a 99.3% return rate from last year (only 1 team hasn't registered this year... with 2 months until kickoff, I'm still holding out hope!), and 25 rookies. I am constantly amazed at the job some of the local FIRST staff and volunteers do to keep our state engaged!

Jon,

I find this incredibly exciting as well! Do you know which team has yet to register?

[Jon Stratis]

I believe it's 2532 from Forest Lake. It would be nice to know what happened to them, and if they're coming back!

[Mark McLeod]

Finally reached 2400 teams.

Down to 12% growth over last year at this time.

[buildmaster5000]

Simply out of curiosity, have you generated a best fit curve for the data that you have (through the end of last year) on total teams registered year to year? How far off are we from this years "prediction?"

[ehochstein]

I believe it's 2532 from Forest Lake. It would be nice to know what happened to them, and if they're coming back!

At Fish in the Boat's MoA event today I heard that they are combining with another team close to them. Not confirmed though, just a rumor passed around.

[Mark McLeod]

Just what do you think this means?

Team Number: 4756
Team Name: aaaaaa
Team Location: wfofo34o2, Other Turkey
Rookie Season: 2013
Team Nickname: wgogfom3
Year - Event: 2013 Buckeye Regional

[dodar]

Just what do you think this means?

Team Number: 4756
Team Name: aaaaaa
Team Location: wfofo34o2, Other Turkey
Rookie Season: 2013
Team Nickname: wgogfom3
Year - Event: 2013 Buckeye Regional

There's more than 1?

[ehochstein]

I believe if you register under a country other than Canada or the US, other will show up before the country's name.

[gyroscopeRaptor]

I believe if you register under a country other than Canada or the US, other will show up before the country's name.

Other is a placeholder for the state or province name. They don't have the administrative divisions of Turkey put in the system yet.

[rsisk]

Just what do you think this means?

Team Number: 4756
Team Name: aaaaaa
Team Location: wfofo34o2, Other Turkey
Rookie Season: 2013
Team Nickname: wgogfom3
Year - Event: 2013 Buckeye Regional

I like the team name!

[Littleboy]

It's the Aaaaaa Team!
It is ok, 1114, 2056, and 4334, you guys can still be the Eh Team.

[Mark McLeod]

There is a bit of waitlist clearing going on across a bunch of Regionals.

3.9% gain so far over last year's final count.
12.9% are new teams - that's still under the average by about 7%
Returning teams are half a percent under the average return rate (> 90%).

Multi-event teams as of this past weekend:
4 events .5% (12)
3 events 2% (47)
2 events 29% (711)
1 event 68% (1649)P.S.
15% of the estimated 3848 available slots are unclaimed/unassigned at present.

[Akash Rastogi]

There is a bit of waitlist clearing going on across a bunch of Regionals.

3.9% gain so far over last year's final count.
12.9% are new teams - that's still under the average by about 7%
Returning teams are half a percent under the average return rate (> 90%).

Multi-event teams as of this past weekend:
4 events .5% (12)
3 events 2% (47)
2 events 29% (711)
1 event 68% (1649)

Who are these teams and where are they competing?

[Gregor]

Who are these teams and where are they competing?

216, 244, and 288 will be at Traverse City District, Troy District, GTR East, and Western Canada

[Mark McLeod]

Who are these teams and where are they competing?
16: CMP, Hub, WI, AR
25: CMP, NV, MAR-Hatboro, MAR-TCNJ
118: CMP, TX, LA, SJC
216: Tor-E, W CA, MI-Traverse, MI-Troy
244: Tor-E, W CA, MI-Traverse, MI-Troy
288: Tor-E, W CA, MI-Traverse, MI-Troy
341: CMP, NV, MAR-Hatboro, MAR-Springside
365: CMP, MD, MAR-Hatboro, Mar-Lenape
987: CMP, SDC, UT, NV
1114: CMP, Tor-E, WAT, TOR-W
1528: Queen, OH, MI-Waterford, MI-St. Joseph
2056: CMP, Tor-E, WAT, TOR-W

[Racer26]

16: CMPHubWIAR
25
118
216
244
288
341
365
987
1114
1528
2056

For a second there I thought you meant 1114/2056 had joined a 4th regional while I wasn't watching.

For several of these teams their 4th event is CMP.

[JB987]

A few of these teams could actually compete in 6 events if they play in their District Championship and also go to Champs. Not sure which gets beaten up worse...the team robots or team members :D On a side note, 987 will only compete in 2 regionals and Champs if we don't get NASA Challenge Grant for Utah...

[Mark McLeod]

Tasmania has fielded a team, those devils.

[Jared Russell]

Not sure which gets beaten up worse...the team robots or team members :D

There's a lot of truth to this! Building a robot to survive 2 districts, a Regional, a Region Championship, and World Championships (plus 4 - soon to be 5 - off season events) is a challenge in itself.

[Brandon Holley]

There's a lot of truth to this! Building a robot to survive 2 districts, a Regional, a Region Championship, and World Championships (plus 4 - soon to be 5 - off season events) is a challenge in itself.

Totally agree. Our robot this past year, while not playing as much as some of you guys in districts played, still reached the 100 match plateau by seasons end. We're very proud of the fact that the robot reached that level and is still going strong.

-Brando

[Racer26]

Strictly theoretically speaking, 1114 and 2056 COULD play 5 regionals, all in Canada, plus CMP.

I'm actually a little surprised we didn't see 1114 take the leap yet this year to play in the 3 Ontario regionals + Montreal, and have a crack at being the first team to win 4 regionals in the same season. I mean, now that they've won CCA, there aren't really any more 'traditional' high-level awards left for them to aim at that they haven't already won at least once before.

[Brandon Holley]

I mean, now that they've won CCA, there aren't really any more 'traditional' high-level awards left for them to aim at that they haven't already won at least once before.

Do not underestimate the difficulty of repeating their high level of performance (both on and off the field) year after year. It's quite a feat.

-Brando

[Racer26]

Believe me I don't. I have had the privilege of front row seats for their entire FRC career.

However, knowing Simbotics, they're always striving toward a lofty goal, taking things to new heights. I'm not sure where they can strive to go from here that doesn't feel like more of the same.

They're already 4 time triple regional winners (06,08,10,11), 3 time CMP Division Champions(08,10,12), 1 time Champions of the World(08), Championship Chairmans Award Winners(12), 6 time RCA winners (06,08,09,10,11,12), have spent much of the last 10 years building new teams and events, both FIRST and VEX, have been on a serial TV program and more.

Where else can they go? I certainly can't wait to see.

[James Tonthat]

However, knowing Simbotics, they're always striving toward a lofty goal, taking things to new heights. I'm not sure where they can strive to go from here that doesn't feel like more of the same.


I think a lot of top teams design robots to be "Einstein" level to win. Even though Simbots have won a championship, they're probably hungry for another one, two, or three championships.

Out of all the teams that I've looked up to, they're the one of the few teams that consistently has the robot, the drivers, and the scouting to drive a championship winning team. Being there is "easy" for them, pulling it off is "hard" and I'm sure they'll keep pushing to win the champs no matter how many other big awards may or may not be available.

Sidenote, they're missing a Championship WFA?

Edit: Apologies if I missed the point of your post.

[Racer26]

You didn't really miss the point. I have no doubt they'll be in the thick of it time and time again to win champs.

CMP WFA is one they still don't have to my knowledge. IIRC Mark Breadner is the only Canadian CMP WFA winner, and his ties (originally, anyway) are to 188.

I'm really excited to see what 1114 can accomplish now. They should have some additional pull for sponsorship dollars, which should allow them to expand the simbot effect in new and exciting ways.

[Billfred]

P.S.
15% of the estimated 3848 available slots are unclaimed/unassigned at present.

Are these slots in the districts or what? I do think we claimed the last one south of the Mason-Dixon line. (Palmetto? Full. Peachtree? Full. North Carolina? Full. Orlando? Full. Bayou? Full. Virginia? Full. Smoky Mountains? Full. South Florida? Full now! :D)

[Mark McLeod]

They may not show it, but the South isn't quite done yet.
North Carolina just added 3 more teams and Virginia just added 2 more.

I'm counting the estimated reserved slots that haven't been assigned or claimed yet.
South Florida, Bayou, Orlando, North Carolina probably have a good number of slots still unaccounted for.

With those last two teams Virginia's probably full now with 64 teams, and maybe Palmetto's full, possibly Peachtree. Smoky Mountain is close.

P.S.
The only events with appreciable openings are Greater Totonto West(18) & Hub City (11)
A smattering of other events have a few open slots:

(6) Western Canada
(5) each at MAR's Mt. Olive & Lenape Seneca
(5) Israel
(4) Las Vegas
(2) Buckeye

[Billfred]

They may not show it, but the South isn't quite done yet.
North Carolina just added 3 more teams and Virginia just added 2 more.

I'm counting the estimated reserved slots that haven't been assigned or claimed yet.
South Florida, Bayou, Orlando, North Carolina probably have a good number of slots still unaccounted for.

With those last two teams Virginia's probably full now with 64 teams, and maybe Palmetto's full, possibly Peachtree. Smoky Mountain is close.
Oh, absolutely--but it seems like open slots were not this scarce last year.

Palmetto's a crap shoot with the new venue, but Peachtree probably has about six slots waiting out. (There were 60 teams last year, and it was surprisingly not that tight.)

[Phyrxes]

I suspect Virginia is now completely full at 64, unless they have some super secret space to put more pits that I don't know about.

[PayneTrain]

^They could move some of the promotional booths out of the pits, or, god forbid, the Tropical Smoothie stand. But really, we usually cap at 60 teams and haven't matched 64 since Overdrive. I think as the Langley Regional it's pushed all the way up to 66, but the key word here is "push"... as in, you have to push your way through the pits.

[MARS_James]

Orlando just went up to 61 teams and only one of the new ones is a rookie

[SarahBeth]

^They could move some of the promotional booths out of the pits, or, god forbid, the Tropical Smoothie stand. But really, we usually cap at 60 teams and haven't matched 64 since Overdrive. I think as the Langley Regional it's pushed all the way up to 66, but the key word here is "push"... as in, you have to push your way through the pits.

Smoothies aren't a necessity?! Say it isn't so....

:ahh:

[Hallry]

Interestingly, NYC still has not released it's 10 or 12 reserved spots...

[Akash Rastogi]

Interestingly, NYC still has not released it's 10 or 12 reserved spots...

NYC may be holding spots for teams affected by the hurricane in NYC and Long Island. Just a guess.

[Travis Hoffman]

Interestingly, NYC still has not released it's 10 or 12 reserved spots...

It is unlikely that you will hear anything until mid December..." - NYC RD

So hey, let's play the "Veteran team that's already signed up for at least one regional/district event and is on the NYC waitlist" game!

48
1676 (?)

[Mark McLeod]

There are a few LI teams on the NYC waitlist as a second event, too.

New team registration has fallen off, even with the Alberta and Australian surge. It's getting closer to the 2011 new team growth rate.
New team generation (318) is running 16% behind last year at this time (see attached - gray is 2013, red is 2012, black is 2011).

A group of four rookie teams just got reclassified to new "veteran" teams and traded in for lower team numbers.

Veteran team re-registration is right on target with a 91.3% return rate.

Total growth is ~11% better than last year at this time.

[Mark McLeod]

the FRC Blog (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/blog-11-16-12) had some news about the events where they will still accept teams.


Regional Slots
The following regionals still have team slots available. Note that for some of these, the Regional page on our website shows zero open capacity – but this capacity does not include the handful of slots typically kept on reserve. So, if you have any interest in going to these events, please register for them! Also, please make sure to check the Regional page for specific dates of these events – some do not follow the Thursday-Saturday pattern.

Greater Toronto West
Western Canadian
Hub City
Las Vegas
Spokane
Israel
Pine Tree
Bayou
Buckeye
Central Valley

[Mark McLeod]

Not done yet. Expect a burst of teams to show up the last week, but I'd guess that we're down to the last 80 or so (mostly rookie) teams to register. To keep up the average growth rate we'd need twice that (~170 more teams). Typically, more teams will register than will actually play. Last year we dropped back 27 teams from the high point, reached a week after registration closed.

A summary to date:
2481 teams (~10% over last year at this time)
92% team retention (tied for best ever with 2003)
208 veteran teams gone missing
331 new teams (rookies + new vets)
21 defunct teams resurrected (two thirds of these teams sat out just one year)
Growth > 20%
800.0% ----- Australia
750.0% ----- Canada-AB
157.1% ----- AR
100.0% ----- Bosnia
100.0% ----- Canada-BC
100.0% ----- Canada-SK
100.0% ----- Dominican Republic
100.0% ----- Netherlands
100.0% ----- SD
61.9% ------ Mexico
46.2% ------ TN
30.0% ------ ME
25.0% ------ IA

Most Teams > 100:

216 ----- CA
192 ----- MI
180 ----- MN
138 ----- NY
130 ----- TX
112 ----- WA


Missing (by %)

33.3% ----- WY
33.3% ----- MT
31.8% ----- Israel
30.0% ----- NV
27.8% ----- HI
24.3% ----- TX
21.8% ----- Canada-ON
20.0% ----- Turkey
20.0% ----- MS
19.6% ----- GA
16.7% ----- KY
16.7% ----- NM
15.0% ----- CO
13.3% ----- DC
12.9% ----- LA
12.5% ----- Canada-QC
12.5% ----- ID
11.1% ----- UT
10.5% ----- FL

-------------------------------
A summary of the data is attached.

[ehochstein]

Missing (by %)
33.3% ----- WY
33.3% ----- MT
31.8% ----- Israel
30.0% ----- NV
27.8% ----- HI
24.3% ----- TX
21.8% ----- Canada-ON
20.0% ----- Turkey
20.0% ----- MS
19.6% ----- GA
16.7% ----- KY
16.7% ----- NM
15.0% ----- CO
13.3% ----- DC
12.9% ----- LA
12.5% ----- Canada-QC
12.5% ----- ID
11.1% ----- UT
10.5% ----- FL

-------------------------------
A summary of the data is attached.


What happened to 10 of the Hawaii teams? Do they usually register late Mark?

Thanks for all of the information you supply on registration year after year, I always find it very interesting!

[DampRobot]

A summary to date:
...
331 new teams (rookies + new vets)
21 defunct teams resurrected


Just curious, what differentiates "new vets" from "defunct teams resurrected?" Is a new vet a team formed from experienced members but registered as a new team?

Also curious, how do you come by all this information? Do you have some sort of system that collects data from the FIRST website? Or is this officially distributed information?

Thanks once again for all the awesome data and analysis. It's wonderful to see the growth of our beloved program.

[ehochstein]

Just curious, what differentiates "new vets" from "defunct teams resurrected?" Is a new vet a team formed from experienced members but registered as a new team?



A defunct team retains the number they previously had, I believe this indicates they have the same main/alternate contact(s). A new vet is when a location that previously had a team, starts a new team most likely with new leadership, they recieve a new number exactly like a rookie team would.

[GaryVoshol]

A new vet is often a spin-off from an existing team.

[Hallry]

A new vet is often a spin-off from an existing team.

For example, Team 193 (MORT Beta), a rookie team, is a 'spin-off' of existing Team 11 (MORT). 193 will be made up of the freshman that go to 11's high school.

[Mark McLeod]

Here's a graph showing the ages of the teams still missing from 2012.
Half are 1-2 year teams.
25% of the missing are what might be called second generation teams, i.e., they are more than 4 years old, so all the original student members would have graduated by now.

[dodar]

For example, Team 193 (MORT Beta), a rookie team, is a 'spin-off' of existing Team 11 (MORT). 193 will be made up of the freshman that go to 11's high school.

Then how come 1592 was not considered a "new vet" when they were founded? As they were a spin-off of 233.

[Mark McLeod]

Then how come 1592 was not considered a "new vet" when they were founded? As they were a spin-off of 233.
FIRST HQ has changed the rules over the decades. Here are the current rules (not in effect in 2005).
2013 Team Combines and Separations (http://www.usfirst.org/sites/default/files/uploadedFiles/Robotics_Programs/FRC/Game_and_Season__Info/2013/TeamSplitsandCombines2013.pdf)
2013 Rookie Team Criteria (http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/rookie-team-criteria)
Also curious, how do you come by all this information? Do you have some sort of system that collects data from the FIRST website? Or is this officially distributed information?

This is all based on or derived from freely available data from the FIRST website. Sometimes it's a semi-automated data scraping, other times and places it's just copied into a spreadsheet. Depends on if I'm borrowing a machine or not.
Some historical intermediate data, like snapshots of registration, I collected and preserved in years past, because I figured I'd want easy access to it some day.

What happened to 10 of the Hawaii teams? Do they usually register late ?
Don't know. It's possible some are just hidden on the Hawaii waitlist.
The missing teams only ever attend the Hawaii Regional, with the sole exception of 368.
Five of the missing ten were registered by this time last year, so it's probable that half just haven't done it yet.

[Mark McLeod]

2500 teams now.
~9% more than last year at this time.
161 teams more than played last year.

There seems to be a drop-off of rookie teams from the last couple of years.

[MARS_James]

There seems to be a drop-off of rookie teams from the last couple of years.

Probably because of the JC Penny Grant

[Mark McLeod]

We have team numbers above 4800 now.

[Travis Hoffman]

We have team numbers above 4800 now.

Woohoo, Team 4800 is from Vegas, baby! Now to see who snags 4848....

[Mark McLeod]

Where the Rookies are playing:

rookies - vets - ratio --- Event
17 ---- 16 ---- 106.3% ----- W CA
14 ---- 31 ----- 45.2% ----- Northern Lights
12 ---- 27 ----- 44.4% ----- AR
13 ---- 30 ----- 43.3% ----- Tor-W
12 ---- 35 ----- 34.3% ----- Israel
9 ----- 29 ----- 31.0% ----- HI
11 ---- 36 ----- 30.6% ----- TN
8 ----- 29 ----- 27.6% ----- Hub
13 ---- 50 ----- 26.0% ----- WA
7 ----- 27 ----- 25.9% ----- WAT
11 ---- 45 ----- 24.4% ----- GA
7 ----- 37 ----- 18.9% ----- PIT
9 ----- 49 ----- 18.4% ----- TX
5 ----- 28 ----- 17.9% ----- MI-Gull
8 ----- 47 ----- 17.0% ----- NV
8 ----- 47 ----- 17.0% ----- SDC
8 ----- 49 ----- 16.3% ----- NY
4 ----- 28 ----- 14.3% ----- MI-Detroit
5 ----- 35 ----- 14.3% ----- Tor-E
7 ----- 50 ----- 14.0% ----- N. Star
6 ----- 44 ----- 13.6% ----- C WA
5 ----- 37 ----- 13.5% ----- Spokane
6 ----- 45 ----- 13.3% ----- SAC
7 ----- 53 ----- 13.2% ----- Alamo
5 ----- 38 ----- 13.2% ----- UT
4 ----- 32 ----- 12.5% ----- MAR-Bridgewater
5 ----- 41 ----- 12.2% ----- CO
4 ----- 34 ----- 11.8% ----- IN
6 ----- 51 ----- 11.8% ----- OH
4 ----- 34 ----- 11.8% ----- Pine Tree
5 ----- 43 ----- 11.6% ----- Inland
5 ----- 44 ----- 11.4% ----- NC
6 ----- 54 ----- 11.1% ----- 10K
6 ----- 54 ----- 11.1% ----- FL
3 ----- 27 ----- 11.1% ----- MI-Waterford
4 ----- 37 ----- 10.8% ----- Montreal
3 ----- 28 ----- 10.7% ----- MAR-Lenape
6 ----- 56 ----- 10.7% ----- SC
5 ----- 48 ----- 10.4% ----- IL
5 ----- 48 ----- 10.4% ----- SFL
3 ----- 29 ----- 10.3% ----- MAR-Springside
5 ----- 50 ----- 10.0% ----- LA
5 ----- 52 ------ 9.6% ----- MD
3 ----- 32 ------ 9.4% ----- MAR-Mt Olive
3 ----- 33 ------ 9.1% ----- MAR-TCNJ
3 ----- 38 ------ 7.9% ----- CV
4 ----- 51 ------ 7.8% ----- SJC
3 ----- 40 ------ 7.5% ----- Dallas
3 ----- 40 ------ 7.5% ----- MO
4 ----- 54 ------ 7.4% ----- DC
4 ----- 55 ------ 7.3% ----- WI
4 ----- 56 ------ 7.1% ----- CA
3 ----- 43 ------ 7.0% ----- MA
2 ----- 29 ------ 6.9% ----- MI-Troy
3 ----- 45 ------ 6.7% ----- AZ
3 ----- 45 ------ 6.7% ----- CT
2 ----- 30 ------ 6.7% ----- MI-Livonia
3 ----- 51 ------ 5.9% ----- OK
2 ----- 38 ------ 5.3% ----- Crossroads
3 ----- 58 ------ 5.2% ----- OR
3 ----- 61 ------ 4.9% ----- VA
2 ----- 41 ------ 4.9% ----- Lake S
2 ----- 45 ------ 4.4% ----- FLR
2 ----- 45 ------ 4.4% ----- LI
2 ----- 49 ------ 4.1% ----- Queen
2 ----- 52 ------ 3.8% ----- KC
1 ----- 29 ------ 3.4% ----- MI-St Joseph
1 ----- 35 ------ 2.9% ----- MAR-Hatboro
1 ----- 35 ------ 2.9% ----- MI-Traverse
1 ----- 35 ------ 2.9% ----- WOR
1 ----- 43 ------ 2.3% ----- NH
0 ----- 31 ------ 0.0% ----- MI-Grand Blanc
0 ----- 31 ------ 0.0% ----- MI-Kettering
0 ----- 31 ------ 0.0% ----- MI-West

[Mark McLeod]

China is trying again this year at the Spokane Regional

Team Number: 4813
Team Name: shen zhen da da le le
Team Location: Shen zhen, GD China (shares a border with Hong Kong)
Rookie Season: 2013
Team Nickname: R2
Year - Event : 2013 Spokane Regional

[Richard Wallace]

China is trying again this year at the Spokane Regional

Team Number: 4813
Team Name: shen zhen da da le le
Team Location: Shen zhen, GD China
Rookie Season: 2013
Team Nickname: R2
Year - Event : 2013 Spokane Regional
Does this team have mentor support from a veteran team?

[mwmac]

Huānyíng guānglín 4813!

[Mark McLeod]

Huānyíng guānglín 4813!
I think Cantonese is spoken there rather than Mandarin.

zhe yan
這

Do any of the Spokane Regional teams have members fluent in Cantonese?
That would be a nice veteran team contact to make.

[mwmac]

I think Cantonese is spoken there rather than Mandarin.

zhe yan
這

Do any of the Spokane Regional teams have members fluent in Cantonese?
That would be a nice veteran team contact to make.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhen#Languages Sounds likely that Mandarin is the lingua franca of the younger demographic of Shenzhen...:)

[Bob Steele]

I think Cantonese is spoken there rather than Mandarin.

zhe yan
這

Do any of the Spokane Regional teams have members fluent in Cantonese?
That would be a nice veteran team contact to make.

I will check and see if I have any students thats can help.
We will be at Spokane. I will see if I have any students that know also...

R

[Ed Law]

I think Cantonese is spoken there rather than Mandarin.

zhe yan
這

Do any of the Spokane Regional teams have members fluent in Cantonese?
That would be a nice veteran team contact to make.

They speak both Mandarin and Cantonese. I would say almost all people in Shenzhen can speak Mandarin and most people can speak Cantonese. My guess is they learn English also in school. By the way, Shenzhen is not practically in Hong Kong. I am very glad to see a team coming from there. Hopefully they will expand to other cities.

[EOC]

During my recent visit to China, I found that almost all the teenagers spoke English quite well. Probably much better than Americans trained in Mandarin or Cantonese speak those languages. My point is that the language barrier will not be a major problem.

[Mark McLeod]

I found that almost all the teenagers spoke English quite well.
Do we need an American teenager to translate for us older folks? :)

[Richard Wallace]

... the language barrier will not be a major problem.I've made a few trips to Guangdong province recently, on business for Whirlpool. We have both engineering labs and motor suppliers in that part of China. Shenzhen is among the easiest parts of China for foreign travelers to reach -- I like going by ferry from HK. I will very likely be there again for a few days during the upcoming build season.

I agree with Eric's comment above re: language. There are more than 100 million people in Guangdong province today, and a significant fraction of them either speak or are learning to speak English. Of course many of those are young people, with better than average education and a keen interest in science and technology.

Back to my question: does anyone know if FRC 4813 has mentor support from a veteran team?

[EOC]

Back to my question: does anyone know if FRC 4813 has mentor support from a veteran team?

Team 1208 would love to mentor and support them, but we are not going to the Spokane Regional. If no one from that regional steps up, we will be glad to fill that role.

[Mark McLeod]

Put Singapore on the list to mentor, too.
This one needs a Toronto West mentoring team.
No language barrier here, unless the mentoring team is French-Canadian I suppose...

Team Number: 4817
Team Name: Singapore American School (http://www.sas.edu.sg/)
Team Location: Singapore
Team Nickname: Singapore Eagles
Event: 2013 Greater Toronto West Regional

P.S.
Singapore has the furthest to travel to their event at 9300 miles (great circle distance).
Beating out the two Girls/Boys of Blacktown, Australia teams (7700 miles) and the Los Angeles team attending Israel (7500 miles).

[OZ_341]

P.S.
Singapore has the furthest to travel to their event at 9300 miles (great circle distance).
Our Singapore FTC sister team will be visiting the US in January for a competition. They have made this trip many times since 2005, when they participated in their first FVC event at Champs. Team 341 also did a trip to Singapore, with our FRC robot in tow, back in 2006. The trip took 36 hours door to door. (and nothing went wrong with the flights or transfers) That was a very tough commute, but well worth the visit. Very glad to see a team from Singapore making the move towards FRC.