**IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

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Greetings Teams:

We are pleased to announce that registration for the following Tier 1 teams, randomly selected through a lottery, will open on Wednesday, December 17 at 12:00 EST and close on Wednesday, December 24th at 12:00 pm EST.

Tier 1 Teams Eligible to Register for the CMP (Team Number and Shortened Team Name):

1 DCX/OSTCNE
60 Ford & Kingman HS
97 Terdyne/MIT/CHS&CRLS
147 RaytheonSP & BC/DH/SP
195 Medx& Southington/ HS
236 Millstone/LOLHS
254 NASA AMES Robotics
358 Festo/Hauppauge H.S.
447 MadCo Partnership
529 Foxboro Co, TI & MHS
599 csunGHHS
836 Robobees
977 CometBots
1057 BRENTWOOD
1102 M'Aiken Magic
1132 FlXCL/CHMTRT/RAPTAR
1137 MATHEWS HS
1140 MAGNADONS
1144 Coquitron
1151 CCC&Middle College HS
1225 HCPS Robotics
1230 Lionics
5 AFL & Melvindale HS
63 GE & McDowell High
103 NASA/AR/Lutron/CF/BAE
148 L3 IS & Greenville HS
201 GM/Visteon & RHS
237 Sie-H2O-Bots Seehobot
306 Corry Robotics Team
365 DuPont Engr MOE

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

I am a little confused. :confused:

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

Same. Are these the teams that attended last year's national, but are qualified to attend this year because of their performance? If that isnt the case then I have no idea why those particular teams are eligable. Anyone fill me in?

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

From FIRST's website Re: championship eligibility criteria:
"For 2004 and beyond, a select number of Championship spots each year will be available for open registration. These slots will be based on the number of years since a team last attended the Championship. All teams will be classified in a Tier (ie. Tier 6 equals six years since attending a Championship or last attended in 1998; Tier 2 equals two years since attending or attended in 2002). If the number of teams in a tier is greater than the number of available slots, FIRST will use a lottery system for teams within each tier to determine eligibility for the remaining open slots. The final determination will be first come/first serve until all available openings are filled. A wait list will be maintained for any openings that become available after the close of registration. Typically 10 to 15 openings occur during the Competition season."

My guess is that after all interested teams from Tiers 6-2 signed up there are still spots left in the championship event. Since more teams are in Tier 1 than there are slots available, they did a random lottery to see who would be eligible to attend.

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

it looks like the registration for the championship has been open to the lower level tiers (the ones that get preference this year) for a while now,

and there are still spots open, so they are opening the registration up to teams who attended last year.

In other words - we were so concerned about teams who wanted to attend, not being able to

and now they are more or less throwing the doors open to everyone

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

I dont think they did a random lottery - I think the tier 1 teams can apply now, and then they WILL conduct a lottery to see which ones from tier1 get to go.

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

Sounds like these teams were selected through a lottery and it is not open to all Tier one teams, since my team is in tier 1 and we are not on the list. They probably do not have enough slots left in the event to open the doors for all Tier one teams to register.

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

Something I noticed:
Some of the above mentioned teams should already be pre-qualified based on the "points system". (We get 1 more year of the points system, remember?)

I mean.. 236 had about as good a year as is possible in this competition. 2 regional wins, a regional chairmans, a regional MQA.

Am I wrong?

John

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

I thought 236 was already going to ATL. FIRST's website says they are.

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

Team 103 won National Chairman's award last year, they are eligible to go every year now for the rest of their team's existence

... this is fishy

I emailed FIRST
 

Yes, something seemed fishy to me too when I got the email and I knew we were a prequalified team who already registered for the Championship. There are at least two other teams on that list that are already registered for the Championship as well. Concerned about the loss of spots for other teams, I emailed FIRST. They thanked me for alerting them and assured me that the appropriate people would look at this and correct any mistakes tomorrow morning (12/17). In the mean time, I'd advise all teams to watch this closely and compare the lists to the tier listing at the FIRST website and those already registered for the CMP.

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

If you see errors please send a message to FRC so that they can correct it as soon as possible.

Note: In looking at the FIRST site there are only 11 spots open. There should be a real mad web rush for the spots at 12:00 sharp!.

For the persons that are confused: You had to be following all the e-mail blasts from FIRST to follow what they are doing. They already had the lottery and these teams can register FIRST come FIRST served ( pun intended ).

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

As I interpreted it, the teams on that list were Tier 1 teams, selected through a lottery process. Starting today, and running through the 24th, those teams are allowed to register for the remaining open spots at the Championship. There are still 4 spots open, as of right now, and those spots are open to the listed teams until December 24th. Based on this interpretation, Team 201 went and registered at noon today, so I assume that my interpretation is correct. I guess there wasn't much of a rush, after all. We registered with no problems, and there are still 4 available.

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

Ok, well the 24th has come and gone and this last registration period is over. So what now? It appears as if those 4 slots are still open. Who gets to register for them and when?

Re: **IMPORTANT FIRST EMAIL BLAST**/Championship Registration Opens to Eligible Tier One
 

Shotgun!!.. I mean... whoever calls it first maybe?? That'd be interesting.. maybe they'll do another lottery which will not include any of the teams in that list.