I'd like to bring up two points,
The first,
Having more tiers of events isn't a good solution, in my opnion it's going to
- Add Cost
- Relegate poorer teams to lower tiers of competition, see 2550 (forced to decline DCMP in 2014, and likely worlds this year, despite being in the top 50 single event OPR this year)
- More travel time
- More School missed (We want FRC students in college right?)
- Likely more mentor/student/volunteer burnout
I know personally, our team would fold if another level was added, and we have a larger budget than a lot of teams
The second is,
As a graduating senior, I'm starting to look towards my future involvement with FRC. After the 2013 and 2014 games, I was pretty excited to be able to mentor in the future. 2015 has been a letdown year compared to the previous, but it honestly hasn't been as bad as I was expecting. In fact, I've enjoyed it quite a bit more than I thought I would. I was excited to finally be able to give back to a program that has done so much for me, but then this announcement came. I know I'm no where near the time investment of many members of Chiefdelphi, but this proposed change makes me question even wanting to give time to this program. FRC's attraction
IS the competition. The drive to be the best team and provide the best experience for students is what propels nearly every team I've encountered forward.
To take away that competition at the highest level is akin to castrating a bull, all of the bravado but with none of the fire.
Here's to hoping we're all very wrong indeed...