After reading somewhere that a team will be attending 3 regional competitions as well as nationals this year, I became very curious as to how many regionals each team will be competing in.
I'm sure I could find that information at usfirst.org, but the reason for this thread is that I would like to know the reasoning behind each team's decision to attend [insert # here] regionals.
I would also like to know how teams that attend more than one regional pay for such a venture. I'm sure some teams do their own fund-raising, others have solid corporate sponsorship, others have university grants, and so on. But even so, attending additional regional competitions isn't cheap ($4,000 a pop after the first one) and add a trip to Atlanta for nationals at $5,000 and you've got yourself one hefty budget. Of course, that doesn't even include any of the travel expenses associated with hauling, accommodating, and feeding a team ranging in size from 4 to 60 people. If your team doesn't do fund-raising to pay for additional regional competitions, how do you convince your sponsor(s) to throw down an extra $4,000 so your team can go to a second, third, or even a
fourth regional? This question seems all the more relevant if your team is already planning to attend nationals.
So, in short, please let us know:
- WHY your team will be attending 1, 2, 3, or more regionals this year
- HOW your team will be paying to attend more than one regional (if you do so)
Thanks in advance.
-Andrew