[Rich Kressly]

It's been awhile since I've been a part of this discussion directly (I've now spent more time with 1712 than with 103), but I was once part of some conversations with people like Ed and reps from other hall of fame teams about these types of rules. I'll qualify by saying that these convos were largely informal, but I do know that these comments/ideas were reaching FIRST HQ staff/management as far back as fall 2004/spring 2005 so it doesn't surprise me to see it in the rules.

The one thing that seemed easy to agree upon (in those informal conversations) was the notion that, as time went by and students graduated, students lost an understanding what the CA is all about without the new students being able to go through the process - particularly the interview. I'm glad for those students on those teams that will now again be able to participate in a process they weren't able to before.

However, when you weigh out the whole eligibility thing, what other qualification spots you might be "taking away" from others, etc - it gets a little muddy in my mind. Maybe some clarification will be forthcoming, but if I were to list questions, the list would go like this (yes, I have an idea what I think some of these answers would be, but I don't want to assume anything here):
1. If I'm a HofF team do I retain my automatic lifetime invite to the Championship?
2. If I'm a HofF team who won CCA more than five years ago, I still have my automatic bid to the CMP, and I win RCA this year, am I "taking away" a Championship CA opportunity from another (albeit nameless) team?
3. If I'm a HofF team and I win RCA, can I compete for the CCA?
4. As a HofF team who is eligible to compete for RCA (and if I still get my automatic CMP bid), am I expected to do the HofF display work and staff it in addition to the "regular" CA work we do during the year?