[Teammax]

First of all congratulations!! Your team should be very proud.

As a mentor and the main person that handles the money on my team I am going to say something that is obviously not popular. We go to Atlanta every other year. We have wonderful sponsors that we do not 'over ask' for money and we have a good working relationship with them. Our team knows that even if we win something big we will be staying home this year. Also, our school understands our schedule so there are not many complants about loss of school time. Next year we are going to Atlanta. It is just the way it is. In my opinion, winning the rookie all star award is in no my diminished if you do not go. If you start planning now for next year you can register for both a regional and the championships.

I have found trying to rush a trip is very hard. Do-able yes but hard. It might be an oppurtunity to find new sponsors but is also might be a time to turn off existing sponsors when you ask for more money and they feel obligated to give it. So be careful. Also with such a tight time frame I have found that team members get left behind wether it is money constrants or time constrants. So the full team does not make the trip.

Maybe you can avoid these issues but at least be aware of what could happen when a trip is quickly thrown together.

I am not trying to be negative, honestly, but being realistic of the situation. If there is no plan going into the regional then it is hard to make one now.