Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Stratis
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.
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As a parent/mentor, I completely agree that limiting the number of missed school days is important. It helps that most teams are located within a relatively short drive of either Mpls or Duluth. Teams can also send skeleton crews to do load-in/inspection/pit set-up during regional events, right?
On a related note, would the number of missed school days be different if/when Minnesota adopts the district model? Looks like the Michigan FRC State Championship is a Wed-Saturday event.