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Re: Super Regional
I was at the GTR for two or three of those "super regional" years, and it was great. The continuous action on the playing fields and huge crowds in the stands made for a little taste of Atlanta... without having to qualify or fly there.
It is interesting how trends change, though... several years ago, the Portland regional was our "little" competition, and Toronto was the "big deal".
Now both Portland and Seattle have more teams than Toronto this year. The growth of teams in the Pacific Northwest over the past two or three years has been incredible. The "level of competition" has also increased, and while we have yet to see a Pacific Northwest team win it all in Atlanta, we're seeing more and more teams from this area advance ever farther through their divisional playoffs. If that trend continues, I'd have to say that Memorial Colliseum in Portland has everything that it would take to pull off a very successful "super regional". I suspect the pit area there could handle close to 100 teams with ease.
It would be great to have a truly massive FRC event on this side of the continent.
As far as the level of competition goes, the Michigan championships strike me as a model for having a very, very competitive event. They might not be a "super regional" in number of teams, but having each team have to qualify to be there means that everyone (should) hit the ground running with a very limited number of "box bots". That sounds pretty super to me.
And on a far smaller scale, we'll be hosting what might be the first VEX "super regional" at the BC championships on March 20th. With over 50 teams expected to register we'll be splitting them into two divisions... one for more competitive teams that have had success at the previous four area VEX events, and one for teams that have gotten off to a slower start this year. The competitive division should be a great tune up for teams heading to Dallas, while I know there will be many teams in the other division that will come away enthused, energized and infinitely more experienced for next year's competitions.
Jason
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