2009 Dallas Regional
 

I knew it was inevitable that Dallas is going to be a Regional, but I didn't expect it to happen in 2009. I think it will be a great addition , given that Dallas has a very strong robotics culture.

BEST Robotics started in Dallas and has the most teams in the Dallas area, DPRG is also a popular robot club for the area.

So which teams are planning on attending the Dallas Regional and what high schools in Dallas will be starting new teams ?

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Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Now that we have a regional, I hope we can bring back some of the area teams that participated in the past. currently there are about 7 active teams and at least 5 schools that used to have an FRC team.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Here are the non-active teams in Dallas Area that I could find on FIRST wiki

Dallas Area:
55 (Garland, TX, USA)
110 (North Richland Hills, TX, USA)
317 (Ft. Worth, TX, USA)
1888 (Plano, TX, USA)

Other Texas Teams:
29 (Canutillo, TX, USA)
127 (Friendswood, TX, USA)
170 (El Paso, TX, USA)
215 (El Paso, TX, USA)
355 (Marlin, TX, USA)
390 (El Paso, TX, USA)
420 (Houston, TX, USA)
438 (Houston, TX, USA)
439 (Houston, TX, USA)
446 (La Porte, TX, USA)
676 (El Paso, TX, USA)
899 (Houston, TX, USA)
1162 (Canutillo, TX, USA)
1490 (Houston, TX, USA)
1479 (Houston, TX, USA)
Teams I don't have info on but they attended LSR, 659 , 520 , 607 , 635 ,659

If anyone knows what happened to any of these texas teams , maybe it will help in the revival process !

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

1745 and 437 are active Dallas teams with one even winning a world Championship. I'm happy that they are doing a Dallas regional but I'm hoping that the regional comittee does not schedule the regional on the days of LSR or OKC and preferably Bayou if they can do that otherwise don't expect Dallas to be strong regional.

Pavan.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

FIRST can have a Texas two-step, LSR then Dallas two weeks later. Have LSR and OKC on the same week (2?) and Dallas during 4 if scheduling permits.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

I think there will be possible overlap with some but it's all good, it will just make for some tough decisions. Lots of work there for the folks that are organizing the regional. I wish them well and will be sure to throw my name in the hat for helping in any way I can.

It would be great to see some of our Texas teams comes to life again. Wonder how we could help in that area.

A Dallas Regional. woohoo...

And a Washington D.C. Regional...I - really - can't wait to see that one! How cool.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Actually since it will be mostly rookies (or so I hear), it should be a week one or two regional so everyone is competing fresh. I think that this will help "level" the playing field as much as possible with the veterans since they haven't competed before either for that season. Also, Lone Star has always (to my knowledge) been a week 4/5 regional so I doubt that will change for next year. It is always much stronger and since teams become more competitive during the end of the season I believe that it will only help Texas and the South with another competitive regional...

On that note, is New Zealand considered part of the south? :rolleyes:

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

If memory serves me right, this is what happened to those teams...

55 - Austin Academy - Competing in FTC

317 - Arlington Heights HS - Lost teacher sponsor and the team disolved

1888 - Plano west (i think ) High School - Competing in FTC

Also at one point highlandpark high school had a team, but team dissolved after teacher sponsor left.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

The Mountain Home, AR school board just approved our district calendar for next year. I should let the Dallas planners know when our Spring Break is - I am sure they are eagerly awaiting that information in order to decide when to schedule the new regional:rolleyes:

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

you forgot 118 the robonauts:cool:

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Pretty sure they don't count as an inactive Texas team :D

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Great memory, I know a person from Plano West that was on 1888 , hopefully the FTC teams will take the next step up to FRC,

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

I apologize but the reason that other Texas teams (118, 148, 418, 438, 1745, etc.), were not named was because they are active!


Pavan


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Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

There was also 98 - St. Marks/Hockaday from Dallas. Dissolved sometime around 2001 due to major sponsorship issues. Their last year was the year before my freshman year. :( The schools split into two teams and both moved to BEST. I'd kill to get an FRC team restarted there, but thats a challenge now living on the other side of the country.

And are you sure 55 is Austin Acad? That is a middle school. (I remember them from BEST)

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

I remember them from the year 2000. They are indeed a team of Middle School students. Their team name back then was "Texas Torque" and they kicked my butt at the first ever regional I attended (Long Island 2000).

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Not 100% sure on the team number , but they had an FRC team in 2000 and 2001. They switched to BEST sometime after that....

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Hey, don't forget about the Full Metal Jackets (Rockwall High School - Team 1296). We'll probably participate in a Dallas Regional.

2009 Dallas Regional dates
 

It's a year away but not too soon for teams to start looking at travel dates so any news as to what week this event will be as well as LoneStar, Bayou, OKC ...

Does this event have a name? One might think of a cowboy theme but then that is more Ft. Worth Texas and the DFW metroplex is so much more than a wild west town:D

Looking forward to some day being able to compete in three or four regional events and never leave the State:cool:

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Just FYI, I can pretty much guarantee that LSR isn't ever going to be a week 2 regional unless it absolutely can't be helped. Rodeo is in town until week 5, and even if we don't hold the event at Reliant Arena again, the Rodeo takes up a fair amount of hotel room and general interest in town, along with the attention of some LSR committee members. I can't see the committee voluntarily competing with the rodeo unless scheduling conflicts make it unavoidable as it was this year. So I think we'll see LSR return to a 5th week regional next year, though possibly in a new venue.

Back on topic, I'm curious if the Dallas regional is going to have any problems attracting teams, given the proximity to the more established LSR regional. I imagine it'll come down to the venue and how cramped and frenetic or not it will make the regional.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

My concern exactly. It needs to be a different date then LSR definitely and preferably with OKC and Bayou. I hope the LSR, OKC, and Dallas regional committees are communicating at some level. I personally am happy for Dallas but think that the Southern region is not strong enough to have as many regionals as the currently do.

It will need support from veteran teams.

Pavan.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Interesting. Sounds about typical for them though from what I remember. From what I've heard they've also stopped competing in Dallas BEST due to politics, so interesting to know they've since moved to FTC.

I also just realized I'll be in Dallas for kick off and the first few weeks of build, then back in Boston for the last weeks of build. Its going to be a fun time.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

My concern is that there will be 4 regionals somewhat close to each other, and if they are not scheduled correctly, they will 'water down' each other.

Travel Distances:

Houston to Dallas: 239 miles
Houston to New Orleans: 348 miles
Houston to Oklahoma City: 445 miles
Dallas to Oklahoma City: 206 miles
Dallas to New Orleans: 520 miles

I would like to be able to complete in two of these 'close' regionals, but if they are scheduled on the same week or one week apart, then it will make a difficult choice as to which one we will attend.:confused:

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Welcome to the dilemma Midwest teams have every year, with Buckeye, Great Lakes, Detroit, West Michigan, Midwest and Boilermaker available for many of the same teams. Plus Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Finger Lakes and the two Canadian regionals nearby. I'm sure the New England / New York / Philly areas have the same decisions to make.

Choices are good! Even if having to choose may be hard.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

I've been thinking about that. It's a good problem to have. :) And all the venues sell popcorn and diet coke, I just know!

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Totally agree!

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

I'm skeptical this will be an issue - especially after going to the OKC Regional and seeing some of these phenomenal rookies compete. I don't necessarily think established regionals always have the advantage, either... it definitely depends on the individual regional committee, location, and event volunteers to make a regional a success in the eyes of the teams, not the number of years that it has been in existence, at least from personal experience from the however-many events I've attended between FLL, FTC/FVC, and FRC.

That aside, if we can bring back some of the defunct FRC teams from the area, it'd be great. Even so, it looks like there are 11 Texas FRC teams for which this event will be closer than the Houston event, and it will be closer for 12 of the teams total that went to Houston last year. There's 39 OK teams, 1 AR team, and 2 LA teams that will find Dallas closer than Houston.

What do you think the regional capacity might be? Especially with the draw of a new regional, 148 might want to invite some of our friends from the north to come compete. :)

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

From looking at the Regional listing -

OKC had 39 with one opening
LSR had 46 and was full. I'm not sure how different that has been at Reliant.
Bayou had 46 with 8 openings.
So - Bayou had 54 slots available...

That sounds about right. Maybe more, maybe less.

But if you bring your rowdy friends, that could make things a little tight. Always a good thing. :)

Jane

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

I'll give you that, but I raise you to the amount of teams in those areas. The North East has a bunch of teams and a few regionals are very close to each other. On top of that we're talking about a new regional. We already know that in the NE many teams are somewhat willing to change a week to help support a weaker regional especially a week 1 or 2 regional to get some experience. But in the south (Texas and company) we don't have nearly as many teams. On top of that, hardly ever does a NE team come down as opposed to Southern teams (57 and others) who try to go up North.

I hope that we can get more teams to reestablish themselves, but first we have to think of why they quit and help them work out a solution. If they left because they didn't like it thats one thing, but if they left because they could not recruit students, get funding, or get school (and/or district) support it will be much harder. EVERYONE talks about bringing up new teams, but rarely do I hear of helping sustain teams....

Also, I have a feeling we may even see some Canadians take a hike down in the next few years if not some chickens learning to fly...

... Who says we'll be at Reliant? Word on the grapevine isn't Reliant, but its just the grapevine nothing official. :)



Pavan


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Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Pavan,
I meant numbers. I don't know off hand what the listing was for LSR at Reliant as far as capacity in the past. Sorry if I was unclear.
Jane

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

I do know that some DFW area teams faded away due to loss of funding. Other teams (like 317) faded after their school lost their teacher / sponsor. I believe that there are plenty of companies in the area that would be willing to fund teams, it just may be a matter of locating the companies and pairing them with schools in their community.

If nothing else, we could take a page from the success book from LSR and start an organization in the area like Houstonrobotics.org dedicated to help teams find funding.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Remember that the Dallas regional isn't even guaranteed to grab those 11 closer teams. The vast majority of teams can only afford to attend one regional, and a surprising number of Texas teams depend on Houston Robotics grants to attend LSR. I'm not 100% certain how that's going to play out with a second Texas regional, but I'd be surprised if the grant didn't mandate LSR attendance. So unless Dallas can offset that, you'll probably still see teams driving right through DFW to get to Houston.
LSR had 52 teams in 2007. I'd guess capacity for 2009 would be 52+ teams. Possibly a lot more depending on how the venues work out.

As for the Dallas regional, based on the rumors I'm hearing for the venue, the arena floor is going to be even smaller than it was at LSR this year. I'd guess 36 teams max unless they have plans for pits outside the arena proper.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

OK got 27 rookie teams. MN got 30, plus 15 2nd year teams.

All you have to do to fill up the new Dallas regional is organize 20 or 30 rookie teams. Knowing that there is a local regional, that might be easier to do than you think. It depends on organization.

Some teams will travel to Dallas as their second regional, depending on what week their home regional is. You might even get a few teams from "up north".

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Well if financial reasons is the main reason some teams went down I don't think the "travel" expenses would be the biggest bill since students usually cover their own travel on most teams (or so they say). Apparently one of the one liners UTDallas tries to use on students is something along the of "(insert large number that I can't think of right now) number of technology companies are within (a very small number) miles of the University for purposes of internships, etc. I wonder if these companies are going to participate in the FIRST Robotics program.


Pavan

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Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

That's true, but that's assuming there's funding available somewhere for 20-30 rookie teams and that there are 20-30 schools in the area that would be more likely to go to a Dallas regional. As Pavan said, the South is still building up teams, and I'm just not sure that adding a new regional right now is a great idea. Till will certainly tell, however.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

Since most people on this thread seem out of the loop on who's running the Dallas Regional, I'll just go ahead and ask,

Who in Texas is working with FIRST to run the Dallas regional ?

Where is the money coming from to fund new teams ? NASA grants , ... or something else ?

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional dates
 

You Texans have always been jealous of California... :]

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

The Dallas area has their own Regional Director (we have since around December-ish? Maybe even before). I know he's already recruited some help. Should know more next week.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

There are several people working with the regional director in Dallas. I had the opportunity to meet them a few months ago and I think they have a good grasp on what it is going to take in order to get the regional organized.

Re: 2009 Dallas Regional
 

i'll come to Dallas if it's not the same week as Florida, i would love to visit my hometown once again