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Originally Posted by Andrew Schuetze
Who has ideas on which regions might be ripe for starting new FRC and FTC teams?
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(Speaking on FRC) Currently, we have two regionals in the state, both of which, are full to capacity (I believe.) I'd like to see more teams start out in the El Paso and Pan Handle area as they have regionals outside of the state they could attend. At the same time, it makes it harder for the veteran teams to mentor them. Houston/Dallas area wouldn't be a bad area. I'd even recommend them signing up for small regionals outside of Texas, such as Bayou, which is a smaller regional with less competition. It would be a good way to get them started and going out of state to compete makes it seem a bit more exciting and inspirational (in my opinion), which might cause teams to stick around longer. I'm purely referring to these 'one kit wonder' teams, and I'm making this assumption based upon a team gets their registration paid and a kit of parts while the state says "Go!" I've met one of these teams at regional last year, and if we as the more established Texas teams could help them in any way, we should do everything that we can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Schuetze
Who, Where, & When can a group of folks host an off-season event to invite potential new teams to shadow or get a glimpse of FIRST programs.
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Last year we hosted a small offseason-scrimmage during the summer, it was a great opportunity for us to train new drivers. A lot of the issues that came up from attending teams is that students weren't able to go or that the school district wouldn't let them. If we could "borrow" robots and have these new teams run robots during an offseason, it'd give them a good start of what the competition is like.
Does anyone know when this $1,000,000 is for? 2010 season? 2011 season? I'd be inclined to even start them on VRC, it's the cheapest, and closest approximation of FRC, in my opinion.