Another very long post...
After considering this some more, debating various options with myself and some of my friends, reading through the various threads on this topics again, and generally trying to organize what I've been thinking, these are all the ideas I've come up with so far. Feel free to criticize them, pick them apart, or otherwise tell me what's wrong with them. Almost everything depends on how much FIRST is willing to compromise on this.
Goals:
These are goals that I'm trying to address for all of the following ideas, some are general ones that I've heard, and some are just things I personally think are priorities.
- Have many teams able to attend a higher level of competition where they will be inspired (higher level = champs, split champs, district champs, super regionals, etc.)
- Have a single final competition so the "sport" part of "sport of the mind" and "competition" part of "FRC" is kept
- Have as few levels of competitions as possible so students miss less school and mentors miss less work
- Have it end at least a week before AP testing starts
- Minimize traveling distance to make it accessible to average teams
- Have a way for FLL, FTC, and FRC to be together
- Have final matches at the competition itself so more people can watch them
Requirements:
These are requirements for all ideas so that they are actually realistic.
- Include locations that can support a large number of teams (enough hotels, an airport, etc.)
- Include locations that have a large volunteer base that can run the events
Idea 1: Super-District Champs
Introduction:
This plan will depend on FIRST being willing to listen to another proposition other than a split champs, which may or may not be true. If they are willing to, though, this is by far my favorite.
Outline:
1. Convert almost all areas to districts. For areas without the team density to create districts, they can choose to either stay with regionals (but will be considered part of the nearest district for the rest of this idea) or join the nearest district. Below is a map of the density of teams by state (and including Ontario, for simplicity I left out other provinces/countries for now):
2. Draw "super-district" lines combining several districts but not creating too large of a geographic area. Below are two maps, one with larger (500-540 team) areas, and the other with smaller (170-340 team) areas. The issue with the second one is that single states with a huge density of teams (i.e. Michigan and California) skew these numbers, so unless these district lines divide states, some areas will have many more teams than others.
3. Replace district champs with "super-district" champs (or give them a different name). Although it will require some traveling, it hopefully won't be much more than it would be with district champs, especially for the smaller area one, and it will be a chance for more teams to see some elite teams and have it easier for them to get to than champs. Also, a split champs will be splitting up the top teams anyway (although admittedly into only two sections).
3.a. Each of these super-district champs will have ~200 teams for the larger version (~35% or more) or ~100 teams for the smaller one (~0.33 - ~0.5%, size will probably vary by the district in this case). Somewhere around 1000 teams, or ~0.33% of all teams using this year's numbers, will qualify. This will allow more teams to attend more frequently, thus expanding the impact these events can have.
3.b. Each of these will have FRC and FTC (and FLL if possible?). I'm not sure how many FTC/FLL teams normally attend champs, but each event should still not have more than ~350 teams max, so hopefully there are more locations that can support this many teams.
3.c. Each of these events will likely be held during week 7. Below is an example calendar of April using this year's dates:
4. Have a single world championship with ~400-600 FRC teams and the usual number of FTC and FLL teams. This percentage will decrease as the number of teams grow, but the super-district champs will be the one to adjust. Champs will play out as usual with one winning alliance, one set of top awards, and so on.
Questions:
- How many locations can support ~200 FRC teams + FTC/FLL? What happens if that number goes down to ~150? ~100?
- A point I've seen brought up regularly is that average teams, the ones this split champs is aimed at, aren't as concerned about seeing every top team as being able to experience champs. If that is true, will having these super-district champs give the same/similar experience? Is there anything that can be done to help this?
- What type of arrangements has FIRST already set up with cities? Is there any way to negotiate to this type of event structure instead?
Pros:
- Reaches many teams, possibly even more than a split champs would
- Keeps a single champs and the competition/sport aspect of FRC
- Keeps FLL, FTC, and FRC together
- Minimizes travel distance
- Minimizes competition time
- Builds on an existing structure (i.e. district champs)
- Seems to be going where the split champs are going anyway
- More, smaller locations makes it easier to find volunteers
Cons:
(Besides changing what they already said)
- Teams will be more restricted by geographic area, likely even more than with the split champs
- Requires more venues
- Teams not in a location that will convert to districts, or far away from any of these super-district lines (i.e. teams outside of US/Canada) will either have to travel twice or depend on qualifying for champs to be in a higher-level competition
Idea 2: Split FLL/FTC and FRC
Introduction:
Would require FIRST to view keeping FRC champs as a single event as more important than keeping FLL, FTC, and FRC together.
Outline:
1. After a regular season, whether it's in regionals, districts, or super-districts, have all FRC teams attend a single FRC champs and FLL/FTC attend another one.
Questions:
- What is the most number of teams Houston / Detroit / St Louis / other locations could handle? 400? 600? More?
Pros:
- Simple (this one was so much faster to outline)
- Keeps the two locations FIRST set up
- Doesn't change much to the existing structure of events within FRC
- Doesn't require the addition of more districts, or of super-districts
- Doesn't change traveling time
Cons:
Besides having to change what they told cities they would get (i.e. a mix of FLL/FTC/FRC)
- Splits up FLL/FTC and FRC (both for the inspiration and for student/mentor overlap, although having combined super-districts might help with some of this)
- One location may not be able to host that many FRC teams anyway (may still have to be combined with super-districts or another idea to reach more teams)
- Doesn't deal with traveling distance
- May be harder to find volunteers
Idea 3: Final Matches between Split Champs
Introduction:
This is one method to try and keep the sport/competition aspect if FIRST isn't willing to change their split champs.
Since these are smaller, related ideas I'll just list them all below with individual notes.
Possibilities:
- Have the winners of the first champs fly (expenses covered by FIRST) to the second one to compete in a final match, which one is first is alternated.
Pros: doesn't create a second event
Cons: only the second champs gets to see the final matches, the first "winners" have to compete more and take more time off
- Have the winners of both champs attend another competition to play it out
Pros: no advantage to being at either competition
Cons: no one else would get to watch the final matches, everyone has to take more time off, starts to become an excessive number of competitions
General pros:
- Keeps the competition while keeping FIRST's split champs
- Very few other changes to competition schedule
General cons:
- Makes the competition aspect smaller, as not everyone can watch the final matches
- Additional playing time for the winning alliances
- All regular split-champs cons (not all elite teams together, issue of whether teams can choose which one they attend (and for the first possibility, it does become a much larger issue), gets rid of the goal of attending "the world champs," etc.)
Idea 4: Leave it as it is
Introduction:
Because it
is technically a possibility, even if I don't like it.
Pros:
- Is everything FIRST said it would be
Cons:
- Is everything that has been complained about
No, I'm not writing them here. This post is long enough as it is.