Championship Eligibility Question

[Adam Richards]

Without winning a regional/regional qual award/being a prior champion, is it possible for a team to be able to go to championships if they're on tier 1 that year? Is it very likely that they would be put on the waitlist, or could they get on the main list immediately?

[Tristan Lall]

If you can wait, they sometimes open it up to everyone (irrespective of tier) at the end of the registration period. This is, of course, dependent on the demand for places. (This demand, perversely enough, is diminished by the fact that a lot of teams see that they're on a low tier, and resolve not to attend the Championship, and instead register to attend more regionals.) Furthermore, there may also be spaces made available during the season—especially if many teams win multiple qualifying awards.

Since they haven't taken 2006 registrations yet, it's always possible that the qualification system will change. Don't bet on anything, other than the fact that you should get on the waiting list as soon as they begin taking numbers.

[ChrisH]

Last year they opened registration to Tier 1 teams. So we signed up as soon as we could. So it is possible. But next year many teams may wait to sign up for additional regionals until the Championship closes, because of what happened this year. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Freddy Schurr]

My teammates have a question.

We want to go to the championship this year and we are in Tier 2, I believe, and we won a regional in 2003 and because of that we attended the Championship.

Can we applied this year to go. Would we be put on the waiting list. Or something. I'm sorry if this sounds annoying without knowing the criteria, just wanted to know.


Thanks

[Ian Curtis]

Assuming you didn't go in '04, you would be on tier 3 for the coming year. Since the qualification process may change, don't count your chickens before they hatch. The way the system works is they go through the tiers inviting teams on respective tiers. They start with the highest tier and work their way down, If they don't fill up the roster in a tier they move down. So long story put short, yes you would get invited.

[Steve W]

My teammates have a question.

We want to go to the championship this year and we are in Tier 2, I believe, and we won a regional in 2003 and because of that we attended the Championship.

Can we applied this year to go. Would we be put on the waiting list. Or something. I'm sorry if this sounds annoying without knowing the criteria, just wanted to know.


Thanks


Check out the 2006 Championship criteria at http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/2006/cmp_elig.htm

[CourtneyB]

Ok im not understanding this. Like we won midwest last year and usually if you win a regional the year before you automatically get to go to nationals the next year. Did they change it this year? Because this year we have to win a regional to go to nationals now. i may be interpreting things wrong here, sorry.

[Billfred]

Ok im not understanding this. Like we won midwest last year and usually if you win a regional the year before you automatically get to go to nationals the next year. Did they change it this year? Because this year we have to win a regional to go to nationals now. i may be interpreting things wrong here, sorry.
Not quite the case...

Prequalifying Teams -

All prior Championship Chairman's Award winners (13)
Original and sustaining teams from 1992 (7)
2005 Championship "Triple Play" winners (3)
2005 Championship Engineering Inspiration Award winner (1)
2005 Championship Chairman's Award Honorable Mention winners (3)

Merit Based Qualifying Teams from the current season -

2006 Regional Chairman's Award winners (1 per Regional)
2006 Regional Engineering Inspiration Award winners (1 per Regional)
2006 Regional Rookie All-Star Award winners (1 per Regional)
2006 Regional Winners

By winning MWR last year, you became eligible for the 2005 Championship. 2006 is a brand new year (unless you meet one of the criteria like winning Chairman's or being around since 1992)

[EricH]

You seem to have not read the current rules. Winning the year before only applies if you win the chamionship the year before. Winning a regional only qualifies you for that year, and that has been the case for at least a couple of years. (Before that there was a different system based on points.)

[Ricky Q.]

But you could register next Friday (11/11) as Championship registration opens to Tier 1 teams on that day.

And seeing as how the Championship is not even close to full, even with pending teams, I bet there will be a couple spot for us Tier 1 teams that want to register. :)

[CourtneyB]

You seem to have not read the current rules. Winning the year before only applies if you win the chamionship the year before. Winning a regional only qualifies you for that year, and that has been the case for at least a couple of years. (Before that there was a different system based on points.)

that explains it. thanks.

[Gary Dillard]

Hey, I just noticed on the FIRST website that our team is registered for the Championship!!! We're a tier 1 team. I sure didn't expect to see that already.

<Hopefully it's the truth and not a registration hack>

[Mark McLeod]

We're Tier 1 also and registered for the Championships. It opened up for us all this past Friday.

[Karthik]

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showpost.php?p=418375&postcount=7

After reading Mark's post I realized that there's a fair bit of confusion when it comes to registration for the Championship Event. I've spoken with at least five Tier 1 and 2 teams, who all believed that their only chance at attending the Championship was based on qualification during the 2006 season. To help prevent anyone from getting left out, I want to clear this up. All teams in Tiers 1-6 are currently eligible to register for the Championship Event. There are plenty of spots available.

Both Teams 1114 and 1503 are registered and counting the days down. :)

[Mark McLeod]

To add to Karthik's plea another way to say it is that:
ANY team can sign up RIGHT NOW for Championships except for 2006 rookies.

Spread the word to every team you know, run into, IM, whatever. Teams that were new last year are especially susceptible to the mistaken opinion that they have to win first to be in it. It's part of our mentoring responsibility to make sure they know they can go now no questions asked. :cool:

[blue_crew]

so how many spots are there available at nationals total?
there are currently 43 teams registered. that means they
have turned in there money and are definetly going right?
then there are 134 team pending which means they have registered
but FIRST hasnt gotten any money. but if they do they are definetly
going. right??
and then there 197 spots left for teams who still want to register.
(we would be one of those teams)

so total number of teams that can attend nationals is 374 teams??

just wondering...

[KathieK]

No I don't think so...

According to the pre-qualifying terms, there are approximately 55 teams that would pre-qualify to attend (depending on the number of teams in an alliance this year).

There are 43 teams currently registered, and 197 slots still open (134 teams have expressed an interest in taking one of those slots but have not yet paid) for a total of 250 teams pulled from open registration.

So a little over 300 teams attending Championships. I think?

[Ricky Q.]

Not quite.

The open spots do not include the pending teams. Open spots do not dissapeer until teams pay to goto the event. So there are 134 teams pending, leaving 63 spots open for registration (197-134).

FIRST will also hold spots back for those who qualify during the season. So if you win one of the qualifying awards or win a regional, there will be a spot for you,

[Mark McLeod]

Yet another answer (yaa-inside joke)!

# Teams Registered (43) - These teams have their slots, because they have paid. They will be at the Championship.

# Teams Pending (134) – These teams have expressed an interest in going, but won’t get one of the available slots until/unless their $ are paid or guaranteed to FIRST. If you pay right now you jump ahead of all these teams, so some of these teams may not be at the Championship. First-paid, first-given a slot.

Open Capacity (197) – These are all the open registration slots up for grabs that the pending teams hope to get a few of.

Hidden Capacity (~100) - There is capacity beyond open registration reserved for teams that qualify by winning 2006 Regionals, etc.

Last year there were 340 teams all told at Championships.

[blue_crew]

alright. that makes a lot of sense. thanks a lot!