I'm still avoiding voting because I haven't made up my mind. Here are some of my thoughts though:
Things I like:
- More play time.
- Unbag time... Particularly if the rules don't change next year.
- Proximity of the events was nice.
Things I don't like as much:
- No time between matches to fix problems (we will get better at this).
- Lack of understanding of the district points system (this will get better).
- No recovery time on Sundays. The events just left me drained and I will need to plan for this next year (the plus side is missing less work but I found myself taking Mondays to recover?).
- Seeing the same teams win similar awards for events (yes, we were guilty of this too and it is to be expected... it just gets dull).
- Missing our friends from out of state and out of country. We liked playing with teams outside NC. Perhaps we will travel to Indiana next year. I'd like to see other teams allowed into the districts somehow.
- The district events had tiny awards... I know, I'm being petty but it was kinda sad. I get it, I really do, but it was still sad to me. DCMP had the normal size awards. Like I said, I get it... still sad to me.
Things that I really don't like at all:
- The flooring at the NC District events. It was good for standing on but trying to move/roll anything on it was a monumentally painful process.
- Volunteer burnout was obvious. I am hoping to change that with the NC FIRST Alumni group but it is in its infancy. NC needs more volunteers. When we have them, we'll have the luxury of alternating them to help with burnout.
- Districts need to recognize additional Dean's list and WFFA recipients (though maybe as they grow? This might already be a thing and I'm just not aware).
Things that I feel should be fixed:
- NC needs more FRC Teams.
- NC needs more FRC Teams.
- NC needs more FRC Teams.
I'm sure I've got more but that's my list. At first glance it seems more negative than positive but truthfully, we enjoyed the move to districts. It was a great first year for it and I'm hoping for many more awesome years.