Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Leonard
I think this is a great change, although I'm surprised how unanimously CD agrees.
I will say that we've had some district teams come to our Upstate New York Regionals in the past who won our Chairman's and Engineering Inspiration awards who were very deserving, and I hope their home regions appreciate them the same way our judges did.
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I definitely see this as the "MAR Rule"
I personally feel that MAR and FIRST should actually ask these Jersey and other MAR teams why they travel outside of their area for culture awards. Much of what I've heard isn't always "Oh it is easier to win in X regional." What I've heard is that teams feel unfairly judged at their home events a lot of times. There is a lot of politics and bias in MAR, and I believe this is something MAR should discuss and address.
Additionally, I generally found it more impressive if a team could show judges in an area they aren't from that they have a large impact on FIRST. On the other hand, I believe it also makes it much easier for the team traveling to get away with stating and presenting things within Chairman's that aren't "fact checked" or are exaggerated. And yes, I'm stating teams traveling to other areas may exploit the fact that the regional's judges and other teams cannot really vouch for what they claim to have done. (this topic can be a whole other thread entirely btw, I totally feel many teams BS what they write into their awards presentations and essays)