[thefro526]

Not that we're a rookie team but...

Every year that we've gone to the Championship we've had the students pay their own way. The cost of this fluctuates year to year depending on Airfare, but I know this year I think each kid is paying somewhere in the neighborhood of $700, which includes Airfare, Hotel Room, and Team Dinner one night. Some "Adults" like myself, (I'm only an Adult by age.), are paying a bit more than that because we have different travel arrangement etc.

Some years, we'll have a fundraiser in the few weeks before the Championship where any money a Student makes goes towards their Atlanta payments, I know in 2008 or 2009 a friend of mine managed to sell enough cheesecakes to pay for his entire trip...

I know this solution may not work for all teams in all areas due to the cost, but it's the way we've always done it. Instead of fund raising up to $20k to pay for the entire team to go, you may only have to raise $6k-$7k to pay for entry fees and shipping.