Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Stratis
Well, she's well informed in how the team works and our budget each year. The team very much enjoys traveling for an event, so having two local events to go to isn't a big draw. We already do two events events each year, so getting two for the district registration isn't that big of a deal. With the team's goals, we would want to make it to the District Champs each year, which would keep our registration costs the same they are now. Fewer teams means less time between matches, and she enjoys spending that time actually working on the robot. Sure, more matches is great, but there are benefits to regionals for some teams/individuals as well.
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We and a few other teams in the state also enjoy the ability to attend an additional event (fronting a large registration fee plus travel costs). But this group is barely 1 out of every 6 teams in Minnesota. A district model brings the extra competition time to all teams for the lowest registration cost available. For some teams, travel costs can be minimal as well if there are two events nearby, but if your team likes to travel (we do too!) there are always other district events in other areas. We've seen the enormous benefit of the second event over the years, particularly giving opportunities for qualification in 2013 and 2016 that never could have materialized in 2010. The level of competition and explosive growth in Michigan can be at least partially attributed to how much more teams improve with a second event.
More matches at an event with fewer teams also has the advantage of getting play time with all the teams at the event and many more opportunities to learn from the matches. We've had 6 weeks (or more) for working on robots, now is the time to run them. You bring up good points for the other side though, and preferences here will differ.