Quote:
Originally Posted by PVCpirate
Here's a question: Does the FLL World Festival take the entire 4 days of the FIRST Championship? Or could it be compressed to 3 1/2 or even 3 days. Then, there could be some sort of break and teams could be encouraged to go check out the FRC matches in the dome, since the new FLL venue seems to be pretty close. Point is, I don't think FIRST wants to lose the inspiration you refer to, and I don't think they rushed into this decision without thinking of that.
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As an FLL team at the championships for the first time this year, we had mixed emotions when we heard this.
One one hand, it would be nice to have a shot at qualifying again next year because of the expanded field. On the other hand, one of the great things about the event was that all the programs were in the same location. We didn't have much down time to visit the FRC/FTC pits as it was this year (we really wanted to spend time there), and when the venue is at a different location next year, I don't see how that can happen at all. I have kids who are now FIRSTers for life because they can see their path forward in the progression of programs.
Another thought: FLL is hard to qualify for the World Festival (less than 0.5% of teams in the world get an invite, as opposed to about 10% - I think - of FRC teams). So, most FLL kids will never get the opportunity to attend anyway. Unless they are directly mentored by an FRC team, it doesn't seem likely that they will make the connection.