Quote:
Originally Posted by Siri
Fair, scalable Worlds qualifications is one of the main benefits of districts. In fact, it's a key mission of the model, precisely because of the realistic maximum size of Champs. It really shouldn't have to get bigger, nor should it. 400 is a lot of teams--and perhaps more importantly, a lot of volunteers and supporting resources. We've certainly got some growing pains in this era, but the upshot shouldn't require a drastic size increase.
|
I agree its one of the primary benefits of the district model: BUT. Until all teams are on the district model, its not fair to them to qualify proportionately fewer than would qualify in a regional model.
One of the main things I don't understand is what the obsession with domed stadiums is. Orange County Convention Center is the worlds largest convention space. You could easily plunk fields with enough temporary seating, and have plenty of room for the pits. As long as the temporary seating is done properly, it wouldn't be a problem.
I believe the growth of the program will continue to accelerate. Currently, MI is qualifying teams at approximately the same rate as an area with 4-1/2 45 team regionals, about 1 team in 7.7.
Ontario in 2013 had 3 regionals and 73 teams, qualifying about 1 team in 4.
MAR qualified about 1 team in 7.8.
It seems to me that FIRST is targeting a rate of about 1 team in 8 for the long-term ratio.
For a 400-team CMP, thats 3200 total teams. On our current growth trajectory, we reach that number by 2016 at the latest.