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Originally Posted by patrickrd

I was looking at the list of teams in Massachusetts this year, and noticed that the number is much smaller than it used to be! There used to be close to 40 teams, now the number is down to 28.

Further, although I was never on this team, the team in my hometown of Charlton (#105 the Cowbots!) no longer exists

I am just wondering if anyone can explain this negative trend, or comment on why their team may not be signed up anymore.

- Patrick

well there are a few reasons... the state itself its constantly having budget problems.... in our town our school has had to get a budget overide for the past 3 years... so we get absolutely no school funding

and when it come to funding there are alot of tech companies in mass, but they are very focused in certain areas... western mass doesnt have nearly as much as the east does. I also found some companies unwilling to support a program that is not centered in a community that its facilities are in... and when you live in a small town with no major companies... thats a real hard thing to overcome

beyond that i cant say... but there is hope.... our team was one of 4 rookies can think of in the state and with the economy on the up hopefully we can get more going