[mathking]

Arguments that basically amount to, "I can't/don't want to balance my life if build season is longer than six weeks, therefore nobody should be allowed to" just do not make sense to me.

Originally Posted by pfreivald

What are your thoughts on FIRST and parity?

Good point pfreivald, but I think it goes beyond questions of equity or parity. If enough mentors can't or don't want to balance their lives with a big increased time commitment then you will have more teams dropping out of FIRST.

As it happens, I have a lot of experience addressing this question in another context: sports. Ask any of the people here in CD who have experience as youth or high school coaches over the past decade or two and you are likely to find a lot of people dealing with the effects of ever-expanding seasons. "Volunmandatory" off season conditioning and practices, club seasons and seemingly endless numbers of tournaments lead to kids spending ever more time on a team. Which leads to a lot of student burnout as well.