[Monty Python]

That's how FTC does it. To make it to the world championship you have to win a regional or the Inspire Award (there isn't even an Engineering Inspiration Award). The Inspire Award is the FTC equivalent of Chairman's. There are some teams that qualify almost every year (mostly the teams that qualify every year have excellent Inspire Award credentials). The competitiveness of FTC Champs is ramped up considerably from regionals without hurting the values of FIRST, so yes, I do think doing qualification on merit only would be a good idea.