Ohio going to Districts?
 

I had thought that during the Columbus kickoff event that one of the speakers had mentioned something about Ohio going towards a district system. Does anyone know what that might look like, or when they anticipate this sort of transition, and what it would mean to teams here?

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

From what I heard almost all of FIRST will be going District by 2017 (there will be obvious exceptions like the Iowa/Nebraska/ Wyoming/North Dakota/ South Dakota areas where there area not enough teams and too much distance to make districts feasible).

I am completely unfamiliar with that format. How many events would a team need to register for? What do the costs look like?

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

Going to districts means you get more competitions and matches for the same amount of money. You get two district events or the same price as one regional. It is also a better way of qualifying for champs with the point system. Biggest downside (at least here in New England) is that the venues are smaller and amount of teams at a competition until the District Championship.

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

'Districts' essentially makes the lowest tier of competition broader ('District Events' replace 'Regionals), and adds a tier in the middle ('District Championsips').

Each team gets to go to 2 District events (capped at 40 teams) for the same $5000/$6000 registration fee that got them 1 Regional before. If you want to go to more District Events, they're $1000 each. The Distict CMP is $5000 (or 4k or something).

In terms of cost to compete per event, it's far cheaper... For teams that have only gone to 1 event before, and aren't in an FRC-dense area, it can introduce extra travel costs though.

What I think is best about it, is it makes the way teams advance far more intuitive... you get points for your wins (or rank this year) in qualification matches, for winning awards, for getting picked in alliance selection, for where you end up in eliminations, and for being a rookie or 2nd-year team (to help 'equalize' the playing field and to help young teams see DCMP and CMP). This may sound confusing, but it ends up advancing the best teams in the region exceptionally well. Far better than the 'crap-shoot' of winning a regional or Chairmans (i.e., being 1, 2, or 24th best robot or being single best in a 10-minute interview, an essay, or a video).

Incredibly few people say 'Gee, I wish we went back to the regional system' once they've experienced the district system.

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

*Speculation based on existing district structures*

The registration fee is the same but instead of one regional you get two districts.

If space is available you can register for a third district for $500-$1000. Or you can register for a regional for the same $4000.

If you qualify for the district championship that costs $4000.

Districts are usually weeks 1-6 and district championships are usually week 7.

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

You should tell that to Indiana and Pacific Northwest, both of which are holding their district championships in week 6.

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

Pulled two facts, one to emphasize one to correct.

District Events don't always cost $1000 more. I know in Michigan they were $500.


The second part is true. For certain teams it may increase travel costs. However, when I mapped out where events compared to the previous year's teams (which is what they logically should be based on) most places did pretty good.

PNW - http://beyondinspection.org/post/997...ific-northwest

FIM - http://beyondinspection.org/post/972...rict-stats-fim

Indiana - http://beyondinspection.org/post/997...-indiana-first

NE - http://beyondinspection.org/post/997...ts-new-england

MAR - http://beyondinspection.org/post/997...tlantic-region


PNW does the worst with forcing one team to drive 242 miles to its second closest event. And that team likely had to go that far for any events prior.

Teams at the weird outer edges of Districts (857 in FiM) get hurt the worst because it's shorter to travel to Wisconsin than to a second district.

Having done Districts -> Regionals -> Districts over the last couple years, as a team I prefer districts. As a spectator I prefer regionals.

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

Hopefully they would include West Virginia and even western PA. With everyone around us speculating about going to districts, if nobody includes us that isolates us from any close events.

Out of curiosity, where would those teams compete if everyone around them is in a district format? Wouldn't not including them make it even more difficult for those teams than it already is? These teams should be included in a nearby district instead of being forced into Canada or a regional 10 hours away. It only further alienates them than they already are.

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

I don't really have any idea about what they would do, but just as speculation it wouldn't surprise me if they gave a state or pair of states a regional (The Dakota Regional?). Either that, or they might allow the teams in that state to join part of a nearby district series that suites them.

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

Wouldn't surprise me either, albeit it would make me angry. I would hope they would be allowed to compete at a nearby district. But as I said above, using the example of here in WV, it is already hard enough on us to start teams that have enough money to travel to regionals (when other teams have much cheaper events that are much closer). If they leave WV out, there is nowhere else for us to go. This is something that I'm deeply concerned about because with only 4 teams, we can't support our own district. I don't want to be stuck only being able to travel to the Dakotas or Canada because everyone around us is in districts and we aren't allowed to compete there.

It's like a catch-22. You need a bunch of teams to start a district, but when you make it harder and harder every year for those teams to travel, and make t cheaper and easier for everybody else in FIRST, you won't see team growth in those places. We will have to tell new teams in WV "oh you have to pay 5,000 to go to one event 10 hours away, but everybody else gets two closer events for the same price."

(I hope it doesn't sound like I'm lashing out on any one particular person. This is just a subject that makes me angry sometimes and honestly quite scared).

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

OhioFIRST and other organizations of interest are currently discussing the topic of district events internally.

No hard deadline for district conversion has been set, but we know they're coming and are planning accordingly.

I cannot share specifically what the boundaries of the proposed district would be, since none have been decided, but I can say that OhioFIRST is working together with leadership in other adjacent states along with FIRST-connected individuals in formulating a proposal.

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

What Travis said.

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

I have heard that VA may go to districts in 2016, so it wouldn't surprise me that if we did go to districts, there would be one in the Southwest of VA and there would be one in Northern VA. Not perfect for WV, I know, but if they allowed them in it would be at least better than Canada or the Northwest States. Ohio (if they do go district) and MAR are also options, though MAR would definitely be a stretch.

Re: Ohio going to Districts?
 

I mean, it's definitely do-able (I usually think of worst-case scenarios). It's just a matter of whether nearby districts would allow us. I believe we are technically under Pittsburgh region, so if Ohio includes them, I would assume we are included as well. MAR would be do-able for us, but for the other three teams, it's really far. 3492 was actually just as close to Crossroads than to Pittsburgh.

My "dream" district would be an Ohio/West Virginia/Western PA/ and possibly Western Maryland.

I will hate not being able to go back to SMR though. My favorite trip every year :/