[LeelandS]

I'm curious to see what a member of FIRST Canada who knows intimately of this decision has to say.

One of the main goals of FIRST has always seemed to have been "grow the program." FIRST Canada has undergone an outstanding growth in the past 2-3 season. Since 2012, when the regional in Montreal started up, FIRST Canada has seemed (from my perspective, anyway) to have undergone some of the most successful expansion-of-program I've ever seen in 7/8 years of FIRST.

It seems plausible to me that this is a "too much of a good thing" scenario. FIRST Canada has probably been thrilled with their growth in the past several years; however, it is possible that they're realizing they're stretching their resources thin. As many of you know, one of the Greater Toronto Regionals (I want to say West) was hosted at Crescent School, home of 610. While I'm sure 610 did a great job of hosting the event and that their dedication and contribution was very appreciated, many are also aware that there were severe space limitations. I would venture to say that similar situations are popping up where venue space, volunteer power, and overall funding are being stretched too thin to support the rapidly growing population of teams in FIRST Canada.

Given this, the logical solution, for the time being, seems to be to slow the growth of the population of teams. It would be unfair to tell already established teams that they cannot compete because "there are too many of you." So the only plausible solution is to limit the number of rookies being allowed to join. I don't agree with the solution, nor do I like it, but FIRST Canada is run by some smart people, and I'd venture a guess that they know more about their situation than I do. So if they feel it's necessary, I'm sure it is.

Naturally, that's purely speculation. I am very interested to hear from someone with intimate knowledge of the situation.