[FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Posted on the FRC Blog, 8/19/15: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...idays-And-More

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

yes, Frank, I'm still reading.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Cue the over-analyzing of this section as though as it is a game hint, even though it is just Frank talking about an interesting piece of information.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

You really don't need to encourage this behavior...

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

... slip things by the CENSORS ... or SENSORS ???

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I think Frank has long since dropped any effort to keep the monster of game hint speculation restrained to its slab in the lab. He can bring the monster to life effortlessly, even when trying not to do so.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Frank got married in 1935? :rolleyes:

(If this was the caption contest, Billfred would give me a negative infinity.)

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

If that is a game hint, I've got bad news.

Cue the "past games" montage from the 2015 hint, and hope that we all get a good one (as in: NOT a combination of '01 and '03).

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

When he was 4 years old, apparently (Frankenstein 1931).

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I've noticed recently that if I am not careful, I can easily misread 'Chesapeake' as 'Cheesecake.'

Good or bad? I don't know. Perhaps a happy omen?

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Peachtree district. That's an interesting name. Hopefully if we merge SC into our system, we can change that name.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I think they could have come up with something better than peachtree, i don't know what, but I'm sure they could have been more creative than that when naming it.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Is there actually discussion of that???

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Since we started with the Peachtree Regional, I suppose it makes sense. However, most districts are named after their region or state. For example, FiM, MAR, PNW, Indiana all describe the region and/or state.
None that I know of, but I'm definitely vocal about it. Sometimes if you shout loud enough, things can happen...

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Peachmetto?

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

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Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I hope this is the name that catches on.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

To my knowledge: no, there is no discussion of this. Some gatekeepers in South Carolina have yet to be convinced on districts, and despite being neighbors I don't see a ton of collaboration between the two states' organizers. (Fun fact: Not one Georgia team has attended SCRIW. Ever.) Add in that it's 5-6 hours from Myrtle Beach to Athens (not even an extreme case, you almost need toes to count the Horry County teams now), and mark my words: the Palmetto Regional will continue until the time is right (or mandated) for the Palmetto District.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Why?
Gaffney, SC.
South Carolina already has the biggest peach on the tallest tree.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Districts clearly benefit teams and would spur growth in SC. It's a real shame that the SC "gatekeepers" aren't yet convinced of the benefits of the district.

We could combine with GA and have district events in Myrtle Beach (a la the Palmetto regional venue), Columbia, and Greenville. We'd be a huge district with lots of options. And there are strong teams in all of those areas who could help support local district events.

I wonder what it's going to take for SC to move to districts. Perhaps seeing TN and FL do the same?

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Just a small point... Billfred said they weren't convinced, not that they weren't convinced of the benefits. A lot goes into making districts happen, and it's entirely possibly that they just aren't convinced they can pull it off yet.

I know for Minnesota, at least, a lot of people are working hard to get us to a point where we could feel comfortable switching to districts. But that doesn't happen overnight. Just a few years ago, we only had 1 LRI who actually lived in Minnesota - you can't run a dozen districts with only 1 LRI! We've since expanded and have 4 for this next year, with at least one more in training and another one or two identified as potential LRI's, once they get a little more experience under their belts.

We have similar issues in pretty much every other key volunteer role. We work hard to make sure that we get the right people in the right roles, and I know that we, as a state, won't go to districts until we feel confident we can deliver the same high quality experience at a dozen district events as we currently do at our 4 regionals. We are not currently convinced we can do that, I would suspect something similar for SC.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

So based on the 2015 registration numbers we have the following numbers of teams in a District:

FiM = 347
MAR = 121
NE = 175
PNW = 152
IN = 49
Ches = 124
NC = 50
GA = 60
Total = 1078
Total in FRC 2015 = 2892

That means that 37.2% of all FRC teams are now part of the district model. With large regions like Texas, California, and Central Canada all talking about districts, it won't be very long (2017?) until the majority of FIRST is in a district.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I'm curious why no one has taken the plunge North of the border yet. Is it geography, low team quantities, lack of volunteers or something else?

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

That is a fair point but right now it isn't clear (to me anyway) that the move to districts is being discussed seriously at a high level. If there are concerns about moving to districts, they aren't being readily shared with teams that could be part of that conversation. Perhaps the dialogue with teams and event organizers will take place this year since our neighbors have moved to districts. There are a lot of great teams in SC that would be very willing to help with that transition.

A SC district would be a small district. We only host one regional, though it is a VERY large event. I feel confident that we could handle three small district events and a championship. There are a lot of great, community driven teams in SC who could make it happen.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I think you typo'd IN's team count, we had 49 teams. Your total is still correct; the numbers listed there add up to 1098.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

My bad. I've edited the original post.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Doesn't a Carolina district (bordered by Chesapeake and Peachtree) make the most sense?

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

There was originally discussion of a NC + SC + GA district, but SC was against that early on. Single state districts always seemed a little odd to me.

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I actually think you're going to see more and more of them. It brings the state in line with the progression of the other districts while allowing for easier growth in the future.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I agree, they are growing every year. It seems like the strain on the given FIRST state organization would be reduced by partnering with a nearby state though. Right now a district NEEDS at minimum 3 events where the old regional model only needed one. Having at least two states involved would allow for those 3 events to be put on by the combined resources of those states rather than leaving one to do it themselves. Ideally you would have more than 3 events total, but going from 1 event one year to 3 the next is no small challenge.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I would agree. Organizing a multi-state district requires a lot of communication and organization that doesn't exist at the moment.

I'm on the fence about districts right now. There are some downsides with teams having to raise additional funds to go play at district championships. There are upsides too, mind you.

For us, it's a right royal pain because we now will likely have to find hotels and accommodations for students at multiple events along with the district championship. We also have a lot more paperwork than the average team for transporting some of our students due to the nature of our host school (It's a boarding school).

I'm very much on the fence about this and I'm curious if these smaller district events are going to be as well organized as the more focused regionals were... particularly with the change in venue and the field equipment, AV setups, etc.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

By making the switch you are always going to have more events, and combining states likely means increasing the number of events even more. I'm not sure the transition is any easier by combining states together and in fact it might be harder since you combining organizations.

Those are a lot of the same concerns that the teams in VA having moving into next year. I guess it all depends on the team and what they are used to doing. Since year 2 2363 has attended 2 Regional events each season, and has had to travel to both. For us the cost stays exactly the same if we attend the District Championship.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Districts are really the teams that comprise them. You'll find that there are plenty of teams and individuals who shout. You'll also find there are a smaller subset of teams and individuals that do. Those that do tend to be the ones that get their way.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I wouldn't doubt that it adds a lot of communication and collaboration between the organizations, but resource and funds wise I imagine it will be significantly easier.
Like I said, more than 3 events is certainly nice but I don't think it is a requirement. It might lead to larger events though which would make things more challenging and might necessitate 3 day events.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

District events can only get so large. The number of events grows with your teams. Usually a district event is a max of 40 teams, so numEvents = numTeams * 2 / 40

You'd think by combining organizations you'd have more funds...:rolleyes:

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I guess so... it seems like the regions that have moved to districts across state boundaries have managed it well by the fact that you can draw on a greater number of highly dedicated FIRSTers by broadening the district.

I'm trying to be understanding, but I don't see how paying additional funds for an additional play can be construed as a loss... if you want to attend an additional regional in the current system you have to pay for it. Furthermore - as you know - you get to go to 2 district events for the same registration cost as 1 regional. People in NE seemed edgy about the finances beforehand, but I've not heard one complaint about the finances since the switch to districts.

If the inconvenience to find accommodations is too great, then you can decline attending DCMP (or even, I suppose, your second otherwise free district event). Your team's attended NCR, Palmetto, and CMP for the last two years... that's about $15k, plus 1x 'close travel' and 1x 'distant travel.' In districts you could go to 2 districts and DCMP for less money ($10k, plus 2x 'close travel')... additionally going to 2 districts, DCMP, and CMP should be only more than your current setup by only 1x 'close travel' (about $15k, 2x 'close travel,' 1x 'distant travel').

Something that makes districts even better financially than the above might indicate is that with the district events only being 2.5 days long, rather than 3.5, you have fewer day of accommodations or busing... and one fewer day of time off school/work.

I've found that district events are more 'well-run' from a schedule and smoothness standpoint; most of them are less glitzy though (AV setup). The nostalgia factor was tough for me the first time I went to the Granite State District at Nashua HS rather than in the Verizon Wireless Arena (where I'd attended it week 1 for 11 years)... other than that? I've not looked back. I hope NC, SC, and more states realize the great benefits districts bring and make the switch sooner rather than later! NE is starting to grow faster again, after having experienced less growth over the prior few years.

EDIT: Districts were conceived of and formed in Michigan as a way to make FRC more cost effective... the first season of districts was 2009 in Michigan; right in the heart of the American auto industry as it was 'collapsing' in the recession... FRC not only held on in Michigan due to districts, but thrived despite the tough financial situation. It seems like this is proof enough that districts are only better for FRC financially.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Oh is there a hard limit? I was assuming it could scale based on the organization holding it, and the venue.

Unless I'm missing something, you would have more funds unless one of the organizations can't or isn't supporting the effort as much as the other. That would probably be a good reason to not join with them in forming the district I suppose.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

District size is limited by the schedule - a compressed schedule for a 2 day event means that you need to limit the number of teams in order to get enough plays per team during quals - add more teams, and the plays per team decreases. Plus, with the scom pressed chedule you have less time to get everyone inspected before their first match - add more teams and you'll need to add inspectors to handle the additional load. There are a lot of ramifications for adding more teams to an event :)

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Nathan, just to clarify my concerns for the financial issues about districts are not about my team but about the 4-5 other NC teams that my team helps to support in various ways throughout the season. I'm very fortunate to have a well funded team. Other teams in my area are not so fortunate and struggle with sustainability... they often don't last more than 2 seasons.

Further, my concerns are less about the total cost, though that is really going to be an issue for some teams. They are more about the timing of needing to raise the funds for the DCMP events. It's going to be a struggle at the moment.

Suggesting that a highly competitive team decline attending an event is pretty funny though.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Oh I didn't know about the hard 2-day limit then. I originally suggested that a the district event would last 3 days instead of two, but wasn't aware that that can't be done.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I can't guarantee it's a hard limit, however the 2015 Admin manual, section 5.6, states:

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

There's also the "limit" that Michigan experienced in 2015, where several factors conspired to make a huge number of their teams eligible for CMP; their DCMP had to be huge in response.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

My team was in the exact situation you are describing. We weren't sure if we would make it to the MAR DCMP this year, as we were right on the line of acceptance. We haven't made it in a long time (probably around 5-6 years) so we didn't budget for the $4000 attendance fee. After the last district competition in week 6, when we realized we were going to be invited, we were extatic. That lasted for about an hour, before we realized we didn't have the money to attend and payment was due that Wednesday. Three days is not enough time to raise $4000 from sponsors. Thankfully after some begging and crying our school gave us some money and members asked their families to donate so we were able to raise what we needed to attend (I think we ended up submitting the money a day late).

It was an amazing experience, but the planning (much of which I did myself) was horrendous. Arranging rides (we didn't have enough money for a bus), finding someone's pickup truck to load the robot and tools into (no trailer on short notice), getting permission to miss school. All of it was a nightmare. I personally love the district model because it lets teams like us who tend not to win regionals (never have since 1999) qualify for CMP, but I wish it cost less and gave teams more time to prepare to attend DCMP.

In the end, we were only a few qualification points away from going to CMP. Honestly, im not sure that we would have been able to attend if we did make it because we exhausted all of our funds, extra funds, and potential new sponsors trying to afford DCMP. Next season we will try do leave more room in our budget for further competitions, but that's not easy for a team that struggles to afford building and competing with a robot.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

First of all, congrats on pulling that together - $4000 in a few days is impressive. I'm wondering what FIRST will do moving forward in terms of making this easier on teams - 2.5 weeks in between DCMP and CMP is not a lot of time to pull together another $5000, plane tickets, and hotel rooms for 20-30 people. As more of FIRST goes to the district model, this will only get worse, and you have to wonder - once most/all of FRC is in districts, what will CMP registration look like? With the current system, it would be a nightmare.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

It is $5000.
http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...-payment-terms

40 teams/event is a good cap to keep, since this improves the event experience for everybody. More matches and you have a chance to see every team at the event. 60 is a lot to keep track of, and waters down closer interactions with the ones you do see. Keeps venue expenses down as well (size of the venue and time it's needed are both reduced).

If that's not enough, you're going to another event to double the value.

Go Districts!

P.S. Did anyone else read all the way to the bottom? Never heard of some of those ... :confused: :p

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Thanks for the fix!

I went to the bottom, and found this.

Alaska so far hasn't been a part of the PNW - is that changing?

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Congrats on making it to MAR DCMP, on both the fact you qualified and the fact you logistically made it possible to be there. Last year we qualified for the first time. We were very lucky in that we had won a Week 3 event, so we had a feeling we'd qualify, and that there were no Week 6 events in MAR so we had an extra week to plan for DCMP. Even with all this extra time, planning was difficult and stressful. We were fortunate enough to receive a grant from MAR (which I believe was easier to do prior to this year) and transportation was covered by our school district.

At DCMP we seeded much higher than we thought we would and, while we were excited and grateful to be doing well, we started freaking out about the possibility of qualifying for CMP. We ultimately were one single district point away from making it, and while we were all disappointed, there were sighs of relief about not having to raise all the money it would take to make it to CMP on such short notice.

My advice for all district teams: plan on going to DCMP, even if you think you'll have no chance on earth of qualifying.

Best case: you qualify and dodge a logistical nightmare.
Worst case: you have a nice chunk of extra money sitting around.

This year we set aside money for DCMP registration and arranged bussing well in advance and this saved us many, many gray hairs this year.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I didn't find any mention of it elsewhere. But I followed the link right next to that line and found something more interesting ...

PNW apparently was thinking about that problem this summer. Here's what they came up with.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Apologies, that sarcasm was not directed at you. You'd think that was the case, because all forms of logic point in that direction, but apparently that is not the case in some district transitions.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Having a short window to find out about qualification to DCMP and CMP is very tough... it's hardest because it's the teams on the 'fringe' that have the hardest time knowing whether or not they'll go, and these teams are more likely to be less financially secure. One thing that helped in 2014 was NEFIRST assisting in organizing buses for travel to CMP... If the District organizers are conscious of this difficulty a lot can be done to ease it.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Definitely something I'll bring up with our organizers when I see them. We attempted to get them to hold some bus reservations for St Louis this last year and it ended up not happening because other teams were concerned about the ability to pay for them in the event that they needed them due to the unique way that each school system has interpreted NC's laws/regulations for procuring transportation.

Let me tell you though, there is nothing like an invitation to a world stage competition to get school districts to very quickly re-evaluate their policies for procurement. We'll yet again be pushing to see the organizers take on the challenge of reserving buses to St Louis and maybe even for the DCMP event.

Thanks for the suggestion. Good info to know.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

For NEXT year when you do go to DCMP/CMP Don't make it part of the next year's robot assembly funding but hold it aside. I know that teams all live a hand to mouth financial life, but you don't want to be in the same situation year after year.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I'm not sure what you mean by "close" travel. Based on what we've heard so far from NC FIRST, it's closer for us to go to Palmetto than 2 of the 3 locations she's planning for district events, and the third is about the same as Palmetto. There has been no comments so far about DCMP, but I'm not holding my breath. It could very easily go from 1 x "close" and 1x "Far" to 3 x "far".

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

In some thread somewhere (ill try to find it) someone said that (i think) 469 from alaska was coming down to play.

Edit: Aha, i was close. Team 568 from alaska is coming to play next year, according to this post.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I believe the current plan is to keep district events in the West, South, and East NC, and to have the DCMP in Raleigh. For our team, and others in the Raleigh area, that means we have two travel districts and qualify for DCMP before getting a chance at a "close".

A lot of the financially struggling teams (until very recently, us included) that could not afford a second regional are enthusiastic with the guarantee of a second play. We had been a one-regional team who just raised enough money to go to a second regional, but districts is a much more exciting proposition.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Indiana is the smallest state to try going it alone, and they did it with 49 teams in the state this year. We had 41. Get that number to start with a 5, and we might be closer. If any of the regional committees were working closer together, I think it could've happened--but it's pretty clear people wanted to play in their own sandboxes for whatever combination of reasons.

(For the record, I'm all for districts as a competitor. Less time out of school and work is clutch for us!)

This. South Carolina has one head ref, 1.5 emcees that are local to Myrtle Beach, one lead queuer, and with Barry Hudson's retirement one game announcer. (Oh, and don't look down to FTC--I've announced that state tournament the past two years too.) I know I'm pretty game and Terrell Burch literally refs the first and last match of the season, but that's not how you sustain four events.

It shouldn't be discussed at any level yet, because we lack the key ingredients. We need 50 teams (nine to go, if nobody shuts down), we need four venues that can hold 40 teams for a real event (read: no venue SCRIW has ever run--we cram 24 in with non-standard pits), and we either need some spare key volunteers or a cloning machine. Could it happen by 2017? Not impossible, but I'd bet on 2018.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

With 41 teams we are close to what IN had when they started districts. And a cheaper model may make it easier to start new teams and bump our numbers. And Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston have hosted regional events before the big show was moved to Myrtle Beach. I can't speak for other cities but I know Greenville has universities and high schools large enough to host a large district event.

What is wrong with discussing how to prepare for districts and how to implement the model NOW? If it takes years to prepare for a regional, it will probably take years to prepare for a district model. If we START the discussion in 2017, 2018 or later, we run the risk of losing teams in SC.

If TN and FL move to districts before we do, every team in SC will have to travel 8-12 hours for a second event (many teams already do). Which means most teams may only be able to afford one event (a large and competitive Palmetto), may become severely discouraged, and see team participation diminish. SC could easily go from 41 active teams to significantly less.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Right, but 41 and no momentum; we've been stuck there for two years, and I don't hear any big pushes underway to grow that number. The past Palmetto Regional venues--Colonial Life Arena, Littlejohn Coliseum, and North Charleston Coliseum--are all their cities' big, hold-a-concert-or-a-sporting-event venues and priced accordingly; you could get one, but you would not get all four without a ton more support (which I'm not hearing about either). To my knowledge, the Columbia area does not have access to such a suitably-sized venue in a high school; even the new-construction schools like River Bluff out in Lexington don't have that kind of room for pits. (River Bluff hosted the FLL state tournament when we went season before last, but it was TIGHT.)

I'd say we're discussing it now. If someone wanted to bend the ears of the Palmetto Regional committee and reiterate how this is a good thing, they're free to do so (I can say with certainty you won't have been the first). In my head, you'd prepare for districts in a state like ours by addressing the deficiencies relative to other states that have or are getting them; team count is just the most quantifiable. When you look at states like Indiana and Georgia, they've assembled the people and resources to organize things far beyond one regional tournament--off-season events, workshops, practice fields, things that are scarce or missing in South Carolina, where the committee stages Palmetto and the Local Kickoff and that's pretty much it. (SCRIW has no ties to the Palmetto Regional committee; we inquired when we started, they weren't interested. When I pressed for us to have field elements at this year's Local Kickoff, they were funded by FRC 4901 and fabricated by help we recruited on campus.) When they decide they want to raise their ambitions, I'll be first in line to offer my support.

Florida will likely duke it out with New York to be the last state along the east coast to go to districts; aside from the frequent international presence and bus-unfriendly geography, they're actually -12 net teams since 2012. (Was 76, now 64. 63 in 2014.) Our team loves going to Orlando, but I'd be happy to see somebody in South Carolina working towards a second official event in either format.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Yes, Alaska is in.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

The subset of districts that are interstate coalitions do have an opportunity to defray costs at the administrative level and take the money saved in payroll and use that to acquire assets for the long term.

Or they don't. (:

I'm very very very interested to see how NC is going to do flying solo on districts and wish them luck. Definitely a ship I'd love to even do grunt work on if I hadn't already contracted out my soul to 422. I hope they kill it this year.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I see what you're saying. Event placement is key. In Indiana, our district event placements were pretty well placed. We had 1 event in Indianapolis and 2 events that were about an hour north of Indianapolis with the CMPS in Indianapolis. I know that a few teams never stayed at a hotel all season. Now of course, Indiana is a small state and has many highways making travel easy. I think the hope for the district system is as more teams join the district, more events get added. I know as districts get populated, getting to two district events within drivable distance for each day becomes easier. So to start out, districts might seem bad but the whole point of disticts is to populate the area with FRC teams like in Michigan. From where Cyber Blue is in Indiana, 2 of the events were a 30 minute drive and 2 were 1.5 hours. Where a team like ElkLogics up in Elkhart Indiana, 2 events would have been 2.5 hours and 2 were 1.5 hours. I'm guessing that a lot of the district placement has to do with where most of the FRC teams are in the state. So as the whole state becomes populated with FRC teams, there should be more events causing hopefully, closer events to each team. Does that make sense? Hopefully it did ;) Thanks for reading.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

It's a long process. Indiana needs to see a ~20% growth in teams before we hit the mark where we need a 4th district event. Given our growth rate over the past few years, that's a huge jump. While districts do provide more incentive to start teams, it's not the only issue to overcome.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

Definitely true. I'm thinking that in order to have 2 events really close to a team, that would need near tripling the teams in the district. That is the hope for down the line. That was what I was trying to explain for the SC District :)

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I have to say that seeing three more regions move to a District model is promising. It has been my team's observation that here in PNW the quality of competition has risen alot since 2014 when districts were implemented in PNW. In addition to more competitive play I would say that the local FRC community has improved in quality. I certainly remember more of the Washington teams than I used to (but maybe that is becuase I have played with them more).

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

How many teams did PNW have when it went to the district model?

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

I don't have exact numbers but I believe that it was around 140ish.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

As Long as TBA isint wrong, every team from 4900 on started in 2014, and looking at the PNW district 18 teams above 4900 have been in the district. If im not wrong there was 134 teams at the end of the 2013 season, or when the PNW model was implemented.

Re: [FRC Blog] New Districts, Frank Answers Fridays, and More!
 

According to https://my.usfirst.org/myarea/index.lasso

2013
WA=113, OR=43, Total=156

2015
WA=109, OR=43, Total=152