[Racer26]

I see the rise of Canada's second tier in 2013 basically as follows:

Earlier commenter is correct. These teams have been on the rise for a long time, but the old way of qualifying to Championship hid them in the shadows of the 1114 and 2056 juggernaut pair for a long time. The second tier in Canada is huge and keeps growing every year. The second tier used to just be 610 and 188. Now, the list is so long, I don't generally try to list it, because I always miss at least one. I can think of at least 16 that I consider to be on that list.

1114 and 2056 being the dominant powerhouses they are and sweeping Ontario regionals for many years has driven the bar SO high, that even being competitive for a title in Ontario essentially requires that you're strong enough to be a 'powerhouse' elsewhere.

1114 and 2056 not only set the bar high, but they continue to raise it each successive year. Wanna talk about a shocking number? 1114 put up an OPR of over 100 at ONTO2. Without a floor pickup. That means they put up their auto discs, plus three cycles, plus their 50 pt climb and dump, ON AVERAGE. This sort of bar-raising on a consistent basis means not only do the second tier have to be great, they too must continue improving to remain competitive.

There is definitely a LOT of cross-breeding of mentors and students among the Ontario teams. It would be an interesting thought experiment to tie them all back together in some kind of a map. Most teams in Ontario have identifiable ties back to 188 through either 1114, 2056, 2809, 1310, 610, and more. There are a LOT of mentors in Ontario who've been doing this for a long time, many of them not with their original teams anymore. I can think of several who've moved among the powerhouses, and some that have moved to create new powerhouses. 4343 has me, and my 10 years on 1075. 4039 has another former 1075 student. 4476 has a former 610 student. There's many more, I'm sure.