[Ginger Power]

The MN State tournament selection process is based off of the district selection process which is universal for FIRST. The only difference between the 2 processes is that for the MN tourney teams are given 10 pts for submitting the Chairman's Award. I think the tournament selection process makes sense in a lot of the things it does.
Awarding 10 pts for Chairman's submission is a great incentive for all teams to submit the award and learn from the process. The fact that teams are only judged on their first event levels the playing field for teams that can't afford to go to multiple regionals (a majority of MN teams) while not creating a disincentive for doing 2 regionals. It also emphasizes the importance of being prepared for the first regional attended. As for the best teams not necessarily being represented at the tournament I don't see this as being a major problem. The teams that perform the best at their first regional are represented so the "best" teams better be at the top of their game for their first regional or they won't qualify.
As for Rookie and Sophomore teams receiving a boost due to their age I may have a biased opinion. My team has benefited from this rule in each of the last 2 years and it has helped our program grow exponentially. I like giving new teams a bump because it helps inspire more students and more programs rather than the same dominate veteran teams every year. If the goal is to spread STEM (which in my opinion it is) then I am totally for giving a boost to young teams.
I'm not saying the system is perfect but I do think it is a good system. If changes do need to be made I as well would not know where to start.