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Originally Posted by brennonbrimhall
They are. For areas with many teams/events per area (high-density), districts make sense. There are some areas, though, where districts still don't make sense (to me, at least). New York, is one of those areas -- teams are not uniformly distributed throughout the state, and are more or less are clustered into NYC, Long Island, Rochester, Buffalo, or the Capital Region (Albany/Tech Valley).
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Personally, I see New York as a good candidate to transition to districts in the next few years. It's important to keep in mind the changes that come with the implementation of a district system before shooting down the prospect. With 147 teams in 2014, New York would likely be required to host at least 8 district events to accommodate 2 plays by each team at the district level. This is double the number of regional events currently in the state. While this seems daunting, the PNW district went from 4 regional events in 2013 to 10 district events plus a district championship in 2014 (by a quick count, I could be wrong). These district events would likely be located throughout the state in a manner which best accommodates the teams, given venue availability. The possibility of inter-district play in the near future could also help reduce team travel for district competitions by making it possible for eastern NY teams to compete in New England, and downstate teams to compete in MAR.
The 6.5-7 hours it takes to drive from Buffalo, NY to NYC is not prohibitive of a district in New York State. Other districts have longer drives to their respective championships for some of their teams. Additionally, NYC is not the only possible location for a district championship. A more centrally located district championship in Albany or Syracuse, for example, would minimize travel times from most directions.
While there are hurdles to making it happen, the implementation of a district system in New York State does make sense in many ways. I suspect the same is true of other regions in FIRST, but often teams are opposed to such radical changes or lack the vision to see how the changes that come along with a district system make a district more reasonable.