[Brian Maher]

As everyone who followed this year's FIRST Championship saw, sometimes the mostly-random assignment of teams to Championship Divisions can result in some divisions being considerably more competitive than others. In order to better balance the divisions and improve the Championship experience for everyone, especially with the move to two Championships of more than four divisions each separating top teams even more, I suggest applying the following process to each Championship next year:

Upon qualifying for their respective FIRST Championship, each team is assigned to one of seven pools, or groups of teams, based on how they qualified:

1. Competition Results I
   -DCMP Winner (Captain / First Pick)
   -Regional Winner (Captain / First Pick)
2. Competition Results II
   -DCMP Winner (Second Pick / Backup)
   -Regional Finalist (Captain / First Pick)
   -Veteran District Points Qualifying Team
3. Culture Awards
   -DCMP Chairman’s Award
   -DCMP Engineering Inspiration Award
   -Regional Chairman’s Award
   -Regional Engineering Inspiration Award
4. Rookies
   -DCMP Rookie All-Star Award
   -Regional Rookie All-Star Award
   -Rookie District Points Qualifying Team
5. Competition Results III
   -Regional Winner (Second Pick / Backup)
   -Regional Finalist (Second Pick / Backup)
6. Pre-Qualified
7. Waitlist

The pools are constructed to group together teams of similar competitiveness. If anyone has an alternative set of categories in mind, do feel free to share.
If a team qualifies for the Championship and earns multiple of the listed achievements (including at multiple events, or at a regional and in a district), they are placed in the highest ranked pool they qualify for. The pools are then divided equally and randomly between each Championship Division. This way, each division receives a more balanced mix of the varying levels of competitiveness.