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Improving the District Experience
After being part of a district system for the first time, I'm in love with it. That being said, I've heard a few dissenting opinions, and the love for the system in Georgia is not universal.
One of the complaints that struck a chord with me was the lack of team diversity in smaller district models, like ours. We had no out-of-state teams participate in any of our events. With little to no outside influence, the gameplay in our district seemed to stagnate, and the lack of deep strategy was noticeable even at district championship. I personally don't know if North Carolina experienced the same phenomenon, but I'd be curious for members of NC District teams to share their experiences. The micro-district model that Indiana pioneered paved the way for states to go to the district system by themselves, but for regions that don't have the competitive history and powerful top tier, it's tough to play the same game that everyone else is playing in week 7. Would combining with another region to form a larger district help? How can we ensure our region can be competitive and diverse instead of isolated and less competitive? |
Re: Improving the District Experience
I think one of the difficult parts of transitioning to a district system is having a large enough base of teams that qualifying for the district championship is a challenge.
Based off of the FIRST in Georgia website, there are 66+ FRC teams, which is getting to the critical mass point needed. Making a championship harder to qualify for may seem like it would be counterproductive, but it can really drive teams to innovate both in build and strategy. |
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****************************************** As far as variety goes, you may want to Talk to some of the Indiana people. I talked with Chris Fultz this past weekend. He mentioned they had the same concern when they started. He also mentioned how great it is to finally get to know other teams. One phenomenon that doesn't get a lot of discussion is the community feeling that the district system creates. You see teams and people more often. More team members volunteer in some capacity, and get to know others by having lunch in volunteer lounge, or working through issues or just being in alliances together more often. This sense of community engagement and friendships isn't only at the adult level, the students really get to know one another, and rival sport schools become "friends with robots". I talk a lot with some of the Indiana crew, and they have really become their own family. The last couple of years (especially this year), I have got to know some of the PNW people, and they too have developed their own FIRST culture and they are a fun and Crazy bunch (and have this years Woody Flowers Award Winner in their ranks). In previous years, I talked with MAR and New England. Those areas are a little different (or at least were when I was discussing). I have heard that they have stronger State and/or local team allegiances, but it would be good to close the loop with them. Of note, both MAR and NE are heavily comprised of "old guard" FRC teams. Before probably 2005, and especially before 2000, FRC was not nearly as friendly a place as it is nowadays. Back in the day, teams used to cover their robot when they weren't working on it to ensure no one got a picture so they couldn't "copy" their successful ideas. I think this could be a factor in the culture or at least the observed culture. I should note that I may have been talking to them after their first year and did not do the follow up I have done with other regions. IE, they could be having super friendly everyone loves each other events now. |
Re: Improving the District Experience
If you are interested in official inter-district play please talk to your district heads ASAP. The topic will be broached at the district meeting this month.
This is a topic I've brought up on CD before, here are some reasonable restrictions on it. 1. 1st round of registration is for inner-district only. 2nd and 3rd rounds can be used for anywhere. A team may skip their first registration if they would like to compete at 2 outside district events. 2. Teams may only compete for the CA in their own district. |
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The camaraderie in districts is real, though. I know everybody a lot better than when I was in Indiana pre-district. Many of our students make great friends with other teams at the competitions. |
Re: Improving the District Experience
I'm not quite sure if the transition over to districts has negatively affected competitiveness as much as some other factors. Even pre-districts, Georgia teams have not been as competitive as their counterparts.
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In other words, I'm not quite sure that inter-district play is the best solution to the lack of depth. |
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Re: Improving the District Experience
So I talked with some folks about inter-district play and I can tell you all that what needs to happen is we need to get a proposal together and then we need to beat Frank over the head with it (not literally). Basically, it has to come from him. The local district executives all seem to have their hands tied to what Frank (read: FRC HQ) decides on this topic. What this means is that all of us here who want it need to work together to put in front of him.... and I think we can given that we've gotten him to respond about less important topics like free corndogs in the past.
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Re: Improving the District Experience
The best thing I can think of for improving the District experience, would be to allow outside teams to sign up for a district (if available after all teams in that district sign up) or inter-district play.
We would love the opportunity to participate in a district for a whole season. NE, MAR, and/or FiM come to mind..:) |
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If other bordering states become Districts, you'll likely get some cross-border pollination. But it won't really start until teams can go cross-border and earn points. I spoke to the main mentor of one of our stalwart teams in FiM back when we started districts. The team traveled up to Traverse City. The mentor told me that the team members really didn't care where they went (they'd gone out of state in prior years) - they just wanted to have the opportunity to travel and stay in a hotel. If they begin to allow travel events to count, we'll probably see more and more of it. |
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