[Mr V]

To me the proof that the district system works has nothing to do with more teams from a district making it to finals and more of those teams advancing farther in those finals, that is just a nice side benefit.

The real proof lies in the students of the teams that didn't make it to CMP or even DCMP.

As the FIRST Senior Mentor for Washington state and a RI or LRI at 5 district events and the DCMP I spent a lot of time talking to team members, both students and coaches about the District system. Every single student I talked to and the vast majority of Coaches and Mentors were very happy about the change.

Students who had been on teams who have traditionally only attended a single Regional and have never had the chance to make it to CMP were particularly happy about going to the District system. They were now able to have what I call the full engineering experience. In the past they got one chance to test their solution to the problem at hand. With two events they were able to take the lessons learned at the event and then iterate and improve their designs.

Students loved the fact that a higher percentage of teams at an event were able to make it to finals and win awards.

Students loved the increased number of matches.

Some students and mentors shared how they were initially concerned that not playing in a big stadium would some how cheapen the experience but instead found the high school gyms more intimate and just as good of an experience and the viewing of the matches generally better.

The majority of the Coaches and Mentors also shared the feelings of the students and many said they saw even greater growth in their students than they had in the past. They also preferred the 6hrs of unbag time at their shop as they found it much more productive than time at a venue. They were able to gather all the parts and tools needed and lay them all out so they were ready to go when the bag was opened. Some teams even set up stations for the different things they planned and moved the bot to the next station for the next modification or repair. Others used some of that time to practice driving and test their changes.

Teams that did make it to DCMP expressed satisfaction and found the greater level of competition inspiring.

Yes teams that did make it to DCMP and CMP did improve their robot, strategy and driving thanks to having 3 or more chances to make changes and many more matches than they had in the past. But again I consider this a nice side benefit and one that will go away as more Districts come on line.

In conclusion if you in one of the areas where the critical mass is high enough to go to districts now or in the near future I suggest you share with your RD and other leaders in your area that you are ready to make the switch. That means that you also need to step up to the task and encourage others to do the same. Shadow volunteers next season, if you don't go to the districts, so you are prepared to take on those roles when you do go to the District system. If you do go next season step up and volunteer. It is a lot of work moving to the district system, particularly in the first season, but the benefits far outweigh the increased work. If more people step up to the task there really won't be an increased work load for the majority of those involved.