[IKE]

From my earlier post I still say that the question should be "Is competing in 1 regional REALLY fair to the students?" Our team is blessed to have a solid sponsor that gives us enough support to do some extra events. This helps immensely in improving. Experience makes your team better.

If you only have enough money to do 1 regional, try to get into as many off season events as possible. They are relatively cheap (usually 10% the registration price of FRC regionals), and the events are usually great experiences. The entry fee can be raised for the price of a "carwash", and most places have campgrounds nearby.
Some post season events are invite only. This is where GP plays a big part. Nobody wants to deal with a poor sport, so upsetting persons that make those events is a bad idea.
If you can't compete at one of these events, go be a volunteer. This is a little known secret, but Powerhouse teams often volunteer at regionals. This gives you an up close personal veiw of what works and what doesn't. Doing field set-up, you can often listen in on strategy and see how teams work together. If I hadn't volunteered at the Rookie regional I would have underestimated Das Boot from the Enginerds 2337.
I said it before on page 6, but I think it bears repeating. 1718 has produced a couple of top notch machines the last two years. Next step is figuring out how to turn Good into Great. As frustrated as you are in that position imagine some of the teams that are still working on producing a good machine. Your team has figured out how to get past that step and that is not a small hurdle. Many vetran teams are still working on that. Some vetran teams were great, but as teams got better they stayed the same.

One demographic that FIRST really inspires is the "Do More" kind of people. Many of these same people find it insulting when you ask them to "Do Less". A couple of our kids figured out how to do a post season event on their own as all the mentors were busy. Seeing them succeed (yes making it to the semi's is a big success) without us (mentors) is one of the highlights of my season. It tells me that we (mentors) did a good job during the regular season preparing them.
Go Bees!