Quote:
Originally Posted by DareDad
With now roughly 200 teams in the state, a 20% representation (FIRST's goal at Worlds) would be closer to 40 teams. I think I'll chat with folks about expanding state next year.
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I don't think we could expand State's without adding a second day for competition. As it is, we get just enough matches for the 30 teams for qualifications, and that's running quals through to a very late lunch. Many teams, at this point, can't afford to have their students take yet another day off school, especially with all the tests and such that are happening this close to the end of the school year. Think about it... if your team went to two regionals and worlds prior to this, that's a minimum of 7 days out of class to compete - a week and a half off school. Additionally, adding another day would increase costs for many teams, as they would then need additional hotel stays. As it is, teams that aren't within easy driving distance of Minneapolis often send in a skeleton crew (sometimes just 2 people!) friday for load-in/inspection, and the rest of the team drives in Saturday morning and back home Saturday evening.
Yes, having more teams at State's would be awesome... but it adds a number of logistical issues that would, I think, end up hurting the event this late in the season.