[KrazyCarl92]

For my team and the others in the New York capital region, it is difficult to say what our "area" is. We are located 3 hours north of NYC, 3 hours south of Montreal, 4 hours east of Buffalo, and 3 hours west of Boston. So we're kinda stuck in this middle of nowhere/equidistant from everywhere place that requires us to travel to find any FRC events.

The result is that all but 1 or 2 of the teams primarily go to New England events like WPI, Connecticut, or Manchester because they are closest. Most of us would call New England "our region" and the New England Regionals have always treated us as their own.

Now with New England going to districts in 2014 (been told this with "100% certainty", not trying to spread rumors), this will almost certainly result in precluding us from competing in New England. There was a proposal brought up at one point in discussions that might allow our teams to still compete in New England, but we have heard that FIRST has dropped the banhammer on that. While it is disappointing for us to be locked out of the place where we have competed for the better parts of 22 seasons, I do understand that the lines need to be drawn somewhere.

Luckily, in an effort to accommodate our teams' situations, an Albany, NY regional event has been confirmed for 2014! It's exciting that FIRST realizes the need to give the fringe teams a place to compete. We will miss competing with the friends we've made over the decades, but we are looking forward to the opportunity to grow FRC closer to our real home and meet other teams we hadn't had the opportunity to compete with before. And hey, maybe even some NEFIRST teams could make their way to Albany next year!

The district system is a mixed bag for us. I was ecstatic at the possibility of being included in an NE district model; the sooner I can get more matches and better competition for the same amount of money, the better. However since it appears as though we may not be included in the NEFIRST system, it does have its setbacks for our team.

That being said, I for one am pleased and impressed that FIRST has recognized the need to host events for us fringe teams to give us an avenue to compete. Rest be assured: they are not forgetting teams that have reasons to dislike the district system. They are simply transitioning to a newer system that should, on the whole, serve the organization, its members, and its teams better.