[Citrus Dad]

I'm making a mix 'n match set of proposal for the change in the Championship format under the following premises.
First, that FIRST requires the following parameters:
- 2 "Championships" through 2020
- 400 FRC teams at each event (800 total)
- FIRST Progression of programs at each event (IE FLL/FTC/FRC).
Second, that FIRST is not requiring that each Championship be at equal parity, that instead FIRST is focused on emphasizing getting the experience for as many teams as possible, but that it is open to differences in the competitive meaning for each event.
Third, that separately into two championships really doesn't reduce the travel costs significantly for the vast majority of teams. (Only moving to bicoastal would have done this, and only BC Place in Vancouver likely would be able to accommodate the event on the West Coast.)
And fourth, that teams will benefit from the championship experience even without the very top teams (and FIRST has already acknowledged that by creating an event in which not all of the very best teams can be there at the same time.) One reason is that there are a number of very good teams that qualify through second tier means e.g., wild cards.

These are only initial discussion proposals and in fact they cannot all be done simultaneously. In some cases, the Championship qualification could progress from one version to another.

At the core of this proposal is to have two levels to Championships that correspond somewhat to the different league play levels in English football:

- Premier Championship - the top qualifying teams play for the overall championship
- Challenger Championship - the next level of qualifying teams, many of which already qualify for the current single championship event.

Qualifying either of these events could work in one or a combination of any of these three methods. In each case, Hall of Fame teams would be entitled to go to the Challenger Champs; they would need to qualify to the Premier Champs the same as all other teams. This will ensure that known top teams will be attending the Challenger Champs. Wait listed teams will go the Challenger event as well.

A) Expanding the status quo: Regional winners, RCAs and DC qualifiers would advance to the Premier Champs. Regional finalists, EIs, Rookie All Stars and 2nd tier DC qualifiers would go to the Challenger event. (District event winners, RCAs, EIs, RAS etc might qualify to fill out the Challenger.) Essentially, teams that now qualify as wild cards will be going to the Challenger event. The numbers may not balance out exactly here so there may have to be some refinement required.

B) Building on the District model: Use a form of the District scoring method to select the top 400 to the Premier Champs and the next 400 to the Challenger Champs. The District scoring may need to be refined because it presently underweights winning events compared to qualifying and alliance selection. It also doesn't weight Chairman's and EI sufficiently to get those event winners to either Champs. District championship results could be used to advance teams from those areas. Districts could be allocated slots based on the performance of teams at the previous year's Champs. (The NCAA cross country qualifying uses this method to allocate slots across eight regions.) RAS would qualify for Challengers unless they qualify for Premier through a different means.

C) Promotion and relegation: This relies on how teams performed in the previous year. Use either the status quo or district points qualifying system. Teams that had finished in the top 50% of Premier Championship the previous year would again advance to Premier. Teams that were in the bottom 50% of the Challenger would go to the Challenger event. The top 50% of the Challenger event would be promoted to the Premier event; the bottom 50% from the Premier would be relegated to the Challenger event. New teams would qualify for either event based on the either the A or B method above. Chairman's would go to Premier; EI would go to Challenger. RAS would go to Challengers.

None of the numbers or qualifying methods listed here are set in stone. This is just the beginning of a discussion. The final aim is to both name a single champion and give 800 teams the championship experience. FIRST can determine whether it wants one Chairman's or two; and how many other awards it gives. (I think its time to expand the number of Hall of Fame teams given the growth in FRC.)