Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemo
I will be quite upset if Iowa gets left out of all of the future regional systems in our neighboring states. Why is distance a different issue with districts? We have to travel to events anyway, so we can travel to out of state district events instead of out of state regional events.
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The general issue with distance/sparse population and districts is not the distance itself but the number of times you have to travel (to have a chance at qualifying for worlds). As opposed to traveling to and perhaps winning one regional, you now have to go to two Districts and a District Championship to potentially make it to worlds. Additionally, while more travel means more play (for less money), there have been claims that because District Events are less 'flashy', their recruiting power is lower. The corollary there is that the travel/money schedule of 2 Districts + District Championship (which has at least the flashiness of a regional, but in my experience is even better due to the quality of teams) makes it hard to recruit and retain students.
This is what typically comes up in "Districts?" threads anyway. I am not in a sparsely populated area, so I am no claim that this is actually the case. We generally feel like districts are a better 'shot' at qualifying for Worlds, not in terms of percentages or input energy, but because better/longer measures of consistency mean less luck and more team control. We've also found that districts are great for recruitment and retention, simply because you far play more and with the same group of teams. (My students are much, much more likely to have more friends on more teams than they were pre-districts.) There's also an interim goal/awesome experience to aim for besides the difficulty of qualifying for worlds. That said, many MAR teams also benefit in recruiting by having more 'home' (close) events. This is not a benefit less densely populated areas would see, though I don't know what affect, if any, that would have.
To be clear, I'm just trying to answer this particular question, not suggest that anyone should cut Iowa out of districts. Personally I'd like to see a huge free-for-all where you just register for 2 Districts anywhere in the world, and choose your preferred District Championship.