Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Ross
MAR didn't stick to state boundaries in Pennsylvania.
|
Correct but MAR was another pilot district while the NE and PNW districts are part of the official roll out of districts that will eventually go nationwide. Note just like FiM, MAR was allowed to set their own system of advancing to the district CMP and world CMP while the current word from FIRST is that all districts will use a common points and advancement system for the 2014 season. Part of the reason for the common system is of course due to the fact that many people want interdistrict play and the other reason is because FIRST wants to ensure the mix of teams (on field vs off field performance veterans vs rookies) advancing to world CMP is similar to the mix of teams that advanced from traditional regionals to CMP.
Or it could be as I also postulated that not enough of the N ID teams wanted to become part of the PNW district. The S ID teams did not traditionally play frequently at the regionals that the PNW district is replacing while N ID teams did. I know from some of the N ID team mentors that I talked to after they had been given the option during early discussions they had mixed feelings about joining the district. It also just could be due to the projected growth of teams in WA and OR. We are shooting for about 125-130 teams for WA alone this year. The OR legislature just approved multi-year funding for FRC team grants similar to what we have had in WA for a few years now, so their growth rate could increase dramatically in the coming years.