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Originally Posted by RKazmer
It would have to be. If it goes to the model Adam has in the flowchart, there are four levels of competition. There would have to be many more weeks in the schedule for FIRST competitions. Assuming that the teams will go to at least 2 district events, that will be 6 competitions in one season for a team that would make it to champs.
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Why would there have to be many more weeks of competition? Districts/regional qualifications wouldn't have to occupy the six week period they currently do. There would only be one additional stage compared to the current district model, so it would be a minimum of five events for a championship competitor, not six (district 1, district 2, district championship, super regional, FRC championship). That could perhaps be condensed further if district championship events are not required to attend the super regional.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RKazmer
Big problem with this: Each competition will be about half a week for kids that are in school, and the kids would have to take off the equivalent of around 3 weeks of school time that most could not afford to miss. While larger teams can send a contingent to different events, smaller teams or teams that don't train more than one drive team may see a major drop in grades or participation from the events.
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1712's students missed a grand total of 3 days of school this past season to compete in two districts and the MAR championship. In 2012, 1712's students missed no school at all. Districts are only 2.5 days, with the load-in/practice day occurring entirely during the evenings. Many run the qualification and elimination matches on Saturday and Sunday. The events are close in enough in MAR that we don't need travel days or hotels. For the "FiES" hypothetical scenario, there's a lot less cost in terms of school missed and travel.