Quote:
Originally Posted by 1885.Blake
[*]Many other competitions/challenges that are both spectator sports and that place participants in head-to-head competition, typically have a long regular season filled with matches that give all participants a good dose of time "on the field". FVC doesn't have that but tries to give a worthwhile experience to teams in 1-day tournaments (Petty hard to do with a large number of teams and a small number of layers of competition)
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At the beginning of this season we attempted to form a somewhat formalized league with "league play." Basically, a league would consist of 8 - 12 teams, each of which would play 2-4 events/season, then participate in the Championship in the Spring. Not a single one of the potential dozen teams we contacted was interested. We cut the number of required events from 4 to 2 to 1, but no bites. Money was not an issue for these teams -- 20+ kits were purchased for their use, their registration & tournament fees were covered, and even the travel expenses to Atlanta were promised for one team if they qualified. But the teams were so intimidated by the perceived time commitment that none of them even came to the Championship.
Far more successful were the 2 scrimmages held by the Northern CA State partners. These events were "come as you are." Some teams came with reasonably advanced robots, others came with never-opened Vex kits in boxes. At the first scrimmage, teams mainly built and tested on the field throughout the day (several teams had no practice field or elements at home), and around 3:00, a series of 2 vs. 2 matches were held, open to any team that had something that rolled on the ground. Because of the small number of teams (8), each team had the chance to play 6 or 7 matches (run in rapid succession over the course of an hour). My team loved it because every member got to driving practice, something that would never happen at a formal event.
The more that is required by an event (time, money), the harder it is to get rookies to come. Once they attend their first event, they typically become "hooked" as they are inspired by those around them. At that point, having more complicated events (2-day, or multi-event leagues) is very practical and desirable. But the trick is to get them to the starting gate.
I think that having smaller regionals (about 20-ish teams) that send the top-performing teams to larger Championships could accomplish this goal. With fewer teams, you can run more matches, and scouting is much easier. The "winners" are more willing to spend the money to attend a 2-day Championship, because they feel pride at having "earned" their place, and the excitement of their success at the first event provides sufficient momentum to propel them to the next level.
While some don't like the idea of having 3 layers to get to Atlanta, the reality is that in the future, Atlanta may become a privilege enjoyed only by a very select few -- for example, in FLL only 100/8000, or < 2% of teams attend the World Festival (vs. 100/550 ~18% of FVC teams). At some point, advancing to a Championship may be considered almost as much of an honor as advancing to Atlanta is now, but with less travel.