[R2D2DOC]

Just some thoughts for your consideration. . . . some observations. . . .that's all.

The objective was to spread FIRST to all high schools. That's a good reason for districts, and associated district championships. To provide a CMP experience to as many as possible, multiple CMP events are required. So, FIRST is going through growth pains. The program may need to settle with a mix of districts and regionals based on team density and logistics. Some new rules of district-regional crossover would need to be established. Multiple CMPs may be the "new normal". I was a mentor for two years in regionals and two years of districts in Michigan. I have been a judge ever since (districts, district CMP and World CMP), it's a new normal.

If a single CMP is desired, the season must be longer to accommodate an extra tier of playoff events. Difficult since FIRST is international. I'm not sure of how many high school based team based sports have a national championship, let alone, a world championship. Little League Baseball is over the summer anyway.

The issue of a longer season is the issue of this thread. All sights appear to be on the end of the season. What about the beginning? This would place more pressure on the GDC. Make the games a little easier so the build season could be reduced, giving more flexibility at the end of season.

Kick-off in December is not practical, although, a number of high school activities already may start in some form over the holidays, such as spring musicals (set building, auditions). This may be unpopular, but there are already challenges during the build/competition seasons as it is. Could this alleviate some of that pressure?

Again, just some ideas to consider, and nothing more.