Quote:
Originally Posted by cadandcookies
Can I ask what's up with Tennessee? Looks like they had a net loss of 9 teams this year (+1 rookie, -10 veterans). Was there a major loss of funding or just bad luck?
|
Not really sure. Knoxville has just over 10 teams in the area and has a regional here so we're isolated from everyone else, but I know that TNFIRST doesn't do much more than plan the regional and only seems to work with teams in the Knox-area. The only other things I see them do other than the regional is the kickoff and they got teams one sponsor last year. Memphis has a lot of teams too and they have their own support network there separate from TNFIRST, and I know I see them update a blog a lot. We don't see many of those teams over here because there are regionals closer to them than SMR.
I suspect the team losses are from rural areas. I know in Knoxville that we have a hard time securing decent funding and can't imagine how rural teams could sustain without the rookie grants. Knoxville is fortunate to be next to Oak Ridge where Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex are, so many Knox teams have mentors from these organizations and receive significant sponsorships as a result.
Also, another factor might be that we're slowly getting surrounded by districts. TNFIRST briefly mentioned at a conference our team held in September they're looking into it, but I don't know (and I suspect they don't either) when that might happen. Georgia and North Carolina went to districts this year which lowers the number of regionals around us to attend. I know most Knoxville teams go to Palmetto, and some went to the Georgia regional previously. We're trying out Rocket City this year and hope it goes well!