I am going to try to address the questions you have and the areas where you state you do not fully know how districts work.
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Originally Posted by itsjustjon
The things that set apart the OC Regional from many District Events:
- Official FRC Lighting and Display: I've researched the requirements for Districts and it seems that FIRST doesn't provide district events with the lighting truss for the competition field. This lighting truss A) makes many regionals consistently well-lit (barring any vision camera issues) and B) easier for spectators to see the field. That being said, I do not know what districts typically do besides relying on the venue for lighting.
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Most districts I have been to rely on house lighting. These are generally played in high school or university gymnasiums, typically where basketball is played*. When at a basketball game, you expect to see the players and the ball, the lighting available will also light up a full FRC field.
Fun fact: AZ West Regional only used house lighting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by itsjustjon
- Practice Day Robot Unbag vs. 6-Hour Unbag: Again, I don't fully understand the rules of districts. However, based on what I believe I know about the 6-Hour Unbag Rule, Regional Teams get around 12 hours to modify their robot if they choose to not participate in practice matches. This is double what District Teams are given in their shops the day before competition starts.
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Going off the
FIM schedule, teams get 8 hours at the event between the doors opening and matches starting. This includes the pit set-up and inspection time, as well as opening ceremonies.
Quote:
Originally Posted by itsjustjon
- Practice Matches: Looking at the documentation for District Events on this page, it seems that there is very little time for practice matches. Could you please actually explain to me how practice matches work at District Events? |
I am again going to talk in regards to FIM, since that is what I know best. Practice matches are available to teams that have passed inspection on Thursday afternoon/evening once the field is set-up. This means that teams that want to practice on the field can. Practice matches are filler line only, i.e. there is no schedule where you are given a specific match.
Quote:
Originally Posted by itsjustjon
- Overall Support from FIRST: Based on my research on FIRST's website, the overall documentation support and quality standards that are provided for Regional Events far exceed the ones for District Events. I think this puts Regionals at an advantage (FIRST should provide Districts with the same support, IMO) and that advantage ensures that Regionals are consistently high in quality.
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I'm not sure what you mean by support from FIRST. The field is not transported by FIRST, that is up to the district (some exceptions exist when a district is borrowing a FIRST field for one week). FIRST in New Hampshire supports the event, technically wise, just as they support a regional, the FTA and other key volunteers can contact FIRST for help if there are any problems related to the field or robot connectivity.
Regionals (and the championship and I believe some district championships) are supported by Show Ready Events, a production company that organizes a large number of conferences and conventions. The SRE representative handles a large amount of back-end logistics which are transferred to a member of the planning committee at a district.
*I use the words generally and typically for a reason, each venue is different.