[tindleroot]

Seeing that only one part of the dome is moving next year (FTC), I feel that for FRC First should make a rookie team division. Given a solid influx of new teams each year, FIRST could add a division of 50-100 rookie teams that qualify from rookie all-star, etc. Even though this division would not compete in Einstein, there would still be 3 (or 4) World Rookie Championship teams. Plus, the competition would not be as rough for rookie teams, so rookies would have a solid chance to win compared to relatively little chance as it stands now. Teams would feel more inspired by other rookie teams as well as the prospects of being in one of the major divisions the following year. More non-rookie teams would also be able to fill in spots at nationals that rookies currently have. I feel that if First played this right, adding a rookie division would make a better experience for all teams with more competitive divisions, giving rookies easier competition, and still trying to provide that inspiration to work harder in the future. However, I am not sure how successful rookie teams (winning regionals, etc.) would work; maybe they would just qualify like the rest of the veteran teams.