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Re: KC Regional Considering District Model
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drivencrazy
I'm not sure I understand the point of this system over other potential systems. What is the true benefit of more than doubling the qualification matches with no increase in the number of intense elimination matches?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemo
Spending two weekends for only one event would be a deal breaker for our team.
Why are they looking at an in-between solution instead of figuring out how to make a district system work?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemo
How would it be bad for Iowa teams? Our team currently travels to two regionals that are 4+ hours away, so traveling wouldn't be anything new. If we can go to two events for the price of one, I'm pretty happy.
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I agree that a full district system like FiM or MAR would be preferred. These events started by folding multiple regionals into the system. Rumor is we haven't found a neighboring regional to pair with yet.  St. Louis, Arkansas, and Oklahoma are all attractive options for a partnership with Kansas City. Did some thinking about what it would look like to partner with the other regional in our state and create a Missouri district. Below is my introductory analysis. Again keep in mind that I am not currently on any regional planning committee, and have limited influence to motivate change.
Unlike many states considering the district model, Missouri’s population (and FRC) centers are on the borders of the state. It would make sense to have a Missouri-plus state championship and allow teams from neighboring states to join in. It would be super if teams outside of the state could opt in or out on an annual basis.
61 teams from the state of Missouri participated in FRC in 2013. - 29/61 played at the GKC Regional.
- 31/61 played at the St. Louis Regional.
- 1/61 played only at the Oklahoma Regional.
21/61 participated in a 2nd regional. (1 of those went to a 3rd regional) - 7/21 teams also participated at Cross Roads.
- 8/21 teams also participated in Razorback.
- 3/21 teams also participated in Oklahoma
- 2/21 teams also participated in Alamo.
- 1/21 teams also participated in Queen City.
- 1/21 teams also participated in Hub City
Kansas had 20 teams participate in 2013, 16 of which played in the GKC regional. Most of the Kansas Teams are just over the border from Kansas City. There are no regional events currently in Kansas. 4/20 teams participated in a 2nd regional, split evenly between Razorback and Oklahoma.
Illinois had 7 teams participate in the St. Louis regional. Chicago has a regional on the opposite end of the state. None of the 7 teams aforementioned attended Chicago this year. 6/7 have attended the St. Louis regional every year of their existence and those 6 have never attended the Midwest regional in Chicago.
Iowa had 5 teams participate in 2013. 4/5 have a history of attending events in the state of Missouri. There are no regional events currently in the state of Iowa. (If Minnesota ever closes their border like Michigan has this would also greatly impact these teams.)
The Razorback Regional in Arkansas had 41 teams this year, and is located only 45 minutes outside of Missouri’s southern border. Nearly 1/4th (9/41) of the teams playing at Razorback would likely be drawn away by a Missouri district. No Arkansas teams played in Missouri this year. (I believe the health of the Arkansas regional is strong enough to deal with a district forming on their northern border, but it should be pointed out that 8 out of the 9 teams mentioned did play in the elimination rounds.)
I would love to see a 4 tournament district set up with 2 events in St. Louis, and 2 events in Kansas City. Each district venue would need to hold between 42 and 48 teams, with an event needing at least 32 teams attending to be viable. I could see KC on weeks 1 and 4, and St. Louis on weeks 2 and 5 with the championship in week 7. The championship should be somewhere between 48 and 64 teams in size. By combining 2 regionals together we should have 12 slots to send to champs. I would propose sending 2 chairman’s winner, 2 EI winners, 3 member winning alliance, 1 RAS, and the next 4 teams not already qualified based on points.
PS. I'm afforded the luxury of daydreaming here. No doubt the move of a local city to host 2 or 3 events instead of 1 is no small task. Maybe the KC proposal that started this thread is the first step in securing volunteer resources to help with the transition.
__________________
Regional Wins: 2016(KC), 2015(St. Louis, Queen City), 2014(Central Illinois, KC), 2013(Hub City, KC, Oklahoma City), 2012(KC, St. Louis), 2011(Colorado), 2010(North Star)
Regional Chairman's Award: 2014(Central Illinois), 2009(10,000 Lakes)
Engineering Inspiration: 2016(Smoky Mountain), 2012(Kansas City), 2011(Denver)
Dean's List Finalist 2016(Jacob S), 2014(Cameron L), 2013(Jay U), 2012(Laura S), 2011(Dominic A), 2010(Collin R)
Woodie Flowers Finalist 2013 (Aaron Bailey)
Championships: Sub-Division Champion (2016), Finalist (2013, 2010), Semifinalist (2014), Quaterfinalist (2015, 2012, 2011)
Other Official Awards: Gracious Professionalism (2013) Entrepreneurship (2013), Quality (2015, 2015, 2013), Engineering Excellence (Champs 2013, 2012), Website (2011), Industrial Design (Archimedes/Tesla 2016, 2016, 2015, Newton 2014, 2013, 2011), Innovation in Control (2014, Champs 2010, 2010, 2008, 2008), Imagery (2009), Regional Finalist (2016, 2015, 2008)
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