[EricH]

Originally Posted by lineskier

The Michigan model is awesome. It seems like the obvious choice.

Actually... It is and it isn't.

Their event model, sure. It's low-cost, solves the volunteer problem a bit, and seems like it's just a little more relaxed and low-key, like an offseason.

Their district system model, just try and implement it in non-team-dense areas. MI, the Northeast, and maybe the Toronto area, I can see it working and working fairly well. But come out to, say, the Utah/Colorado/Wyoming/Montana area, and the district system won't be sustainable for more than a year. There just isn't enough density to do it. Even in, say, CA/AZ/NV, it's a stretch--and then HI has to go even farther to compete on the mainland.

I don't think it's FIRST's ego--they've stated that any area that wants to can go to that model. It's just that nobody's got the volunteer infrastructure and team density to do it in place yet outside of MI.